


Dark Ages

by MemoriesOfVoxei



Series: Dark Ages [1]
Category: One Piece
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-06
Updated: 2014-05-06
Packaged: 2018-01-23 19:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1576142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoriesOfVoxei/pseuds/MemoriesOfVoxei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a tragic incident, Luffy is found and adopted by the Queen of Gold Kingdom, Rouge. This even will change Luffy's life forever, but will it be for the best? Or... for the worse? And what does Ace's appearance really mean?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The boy was starving. He didn't know where he was, but he knew it was cold, way too cold. His stomach had been empty for a couple of days already, and the pain in his belly was getting harder and harder to ignore each passing minutes he spent without having the luck to feed himself. The lack of food had weakened his body considerably. His muscles were sore after all those days of constant walk in the mud. His skin felt like ice under his dirty and tattered clothes impossibly heavy after absorbing a great quantity of rain water and sweat. He was completely exhausted. The raindrops, still falling on his curled up body leaned against a stone wall, felt like pointy pebbles digging through his scrapped skin, damaged after his too many falls. If only he could find shelter for the night... At that thought, he looked at the grey ceiling floating above his head, seemingly mocking him. He had to get up, walk, and find food. But he was tired. He was so sleepy. And his body refused to move. His chin was slowly falling back to his chest as he felt his consciousness fade away. Before closing his eyes to take a nap, _maybe his last_ , he saw a huge stone building straight ahead. How could he have missed that? It was right in front of him If only he had seen it earlier... but now it was too late. The boy forced his eyes open one last time, gazing at the possible shelter, before letting his body fall to the side with a silent thud. 

* * *

Pushing the needle through the white fabric tensed with the tambour's help, the woman proceeded to make a subtle-looking knot with the thin red thread, finishing the flower pattern she had sewed on the cloth. She admired her work one last time before folding it neatly and lowering it down gently on the smooth surface of the wooden table, which was decorating the room beside the comfortable beige couch she was sitting on. She looked at her personal handmaid who was embroidering her never ending landscape designed cloth. The older woman had been serving her ever since she was a naive teenager. Over the years, they had become the closest friends the Queen could ever have in her life and it wasn't long that she had also become her secret adviser, fully caring for her well being, both physically and emotionally. The older woman, Laura, had grown stout ever since those times they were talking about handsome and mysterious men to have secret love affairs with.

The Queen let her gaze fall on the fireplace from where a yellowish orange light illuminated the windowless living room, her thoughts lingering in the past for an instant. Before long, she stood up, Laura too focused on her difficult task to notice her movements, and headed for the door, leaving her finished embroidery behind.

The woman wasn't surprised to see a guard standing beside the door she had silently closed behind her. Yet, she stilled, her hand unmoving from the door knob. She always felt secure when that man was near: he had always served her whole family with so much loyalty that she couldn't help but think of him as a part of it too. He was never far away, always promising love and security. However, she knew that they were both getting old, and him even older, and that his usual task were starting to become a little more difficult than before. She turned to face him, the man she respected so much, and smiled at him with a tenderness she would only show when she was worried about him.

“Sweetheart...” She started in a low whisper. The man returned her smile, greeting her and wordlessly giving her permission to continue at the same time. “You shouldn't have to stand still in this deadly cold of the corridors, Rayleigh.” The Queen looked directly into the man's deep blue eyes, who simply laughed at her comment.

“It is my job to watch for your safety, your majesty.” She gave him a reprimanding glare, and the knight proceeded in correcting himself. “Rouge.”

“Better. Whenever we're alone, my friend. You can drop the formalities. I think we know each other well enough to say whatever we want without building a wall between us with titles and useless greetings created only to hide the real person hidden behind those royal masks.” The Queen said, her tone above a whisper, letting her soft yet strong voice flow like spring water at the swordsman's ears.

I know, Rouge. It has only become a habit.” She signed in acknowledgement. They had too few private moments to talk to each other freely. Even she at some point started to call this close friend of hers 'Sir Silvers', which made the older man wince every time, unused to be called that by this gentle voice.

“It's pretty cold here, you could have come inside to warm you up near the fireplace.”

“Rouge, you're fully aware that I am not allowed to go in your quarters except for emergencies.” He responded, a hint of seriousness in his tone hidden behind small chuckles. The Queen's eyes dropped to the stone ground beneath them, unable to hide her unexplained worry.

“I still could have ordered to bring down a seat and a blanket for you, at least to keep you from freezing and from locking your knees from standing still so long...” He wanted to tell her that it would only bring his guard down and even make him doze off, which would make his presence ratter useless, but seeing the blond haired woman looking so worried, so sad, so  _tired_ , all he managed to do was to cup her cheeks within his big protective hands and land a tender kiss on her forehead. He cared for her, truly, and he wished he could do something more to make her feel better. But all he could really do now was show his love for her and make sure no more tragedy happened in her life.

“You should go to bed, Rouge. It's pretty late already, and you need your rest.” He had taken a step back, his hands now resting on her small shoulders and his stare had lingered on her auburn eyes, a beautiful mix of fiery red, a tender flame wavering with the wind that was her emotions, and of a dark brown, a strong earthy colour promising balance, stability and support like the queen she was and was forever meant to be.

* * *

The Queen stopped dead in her track, shocked and confused at the sight offered right in front of her. She had changed into her long and fancy nightdress and let her blond hair fall loose on her shoulders, with the goal of going to sleep in mind. She had closed the window her handmaid had seemingly forgotten to close, water from the rain soaking the soft carpet covering the stone ground. She had added wood in the fireplace to receive a fair amount of heat throughout all the night, to protect her from its coldness. She was heading toward her comfortable bed she saw something unusual. There was a lump under the red covers, and it wasn't a pillow. The lump was rising and falling at an even pace, it being the only sign of life coming from the bed. Only a black turf could be seen near the pile of cushions.

Rouge stayed unmoving for a while, wondering how the animal got in there, before remembering the window that had been left open. She slowly removed the cover, not wanting to scare it. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was no where near an animal that had been in her bed: it was a child.

The young boy was curled up on himself, clutching his ripped off clothes with a hand and warping his other arm around his stomach, as if to ease some kind of pain. He looked way too thin compared to his young age, and the Queen felt her heart tighten up with motherly instinct. It seemed like his life wasn't all play...

She sat on the bed beside the child, her eyes embracing his now shivering frame. She pushed his wet dirty bangs away off his face to take a closer look at the boy's features. The eyelids coverings his eyes were decorated with long dark eyelashes on which dust was sticking to, his lips were completely dry and crackling and his skin was sickly pale, although a light blush was colouring his cheeks. A deep looking cut was still bleeding, situated underneath his left eye, and Rouge wondered how he could have gotten it. Her hand caressed his forehead and she instantly knew that he had a fever.

“Rayleigh.” She called from behind her quarters' door, making sure no to raise her voice too much to avoid waking the child. “I need your help.” She continued, more softly. “Please, come inside.” Seeing as he made no moves, she changed her approach. “Come inside, Rayleigh. It's an order.” She heard him sigh, knowing he was about to break one of the rules the King had set, because it was an order and he  _had_ to follow  _every_ order.

The knight overly frowned when he saw the small body resting beside the spot where his queen sat. She were now in her nightdress, completely oblivious of the fact that she was of royal rank while he was simply her serving warrior. They were of completely different classes, yet she insisted on staying the same she was when he had met her: free. Although her fate was already chose by her own parents at a very young age, she hadn't change who she was. Wild as ever, she made a sentence with five simple words. Words which meaning Rayleigh didn't understood for a while as his mind processed what she had said.

“I want to keep him.” Right. He knew she loved children and that he had always wanted to have at least one. A heir. But wasn't that going too far? Sure, the boy ended up sneaking who knows how into the castle and was now sleeping soundly on the queen's bed, probably oblivious to where he really was. Sure, Rouge may have been this kingdom's queen and had to make decisions and give orders. But wasn't this going a little too far? After all, the child was probably just lost in the rain and took shelter under the first roof he saw. He most likely had a family currently plucking their hair out while waiting impatiently for his return with worry. Wait, why was he even thinking about something like this? It was Rouge, surely he had misunderstood something.

“I mean, he's definitely tired and cold, and not to mention he clearly had a fever. We can't just kick him out while there's this huge storm rampaging outside, in the middle of the night, right?” Her voice was no louder than a whisper, her eyes lingering on the tiny body beside her. He thought he saw something flicker in her gaze, and he knew what she was thinking about. What she was painfully remembering. He sighed, having come up to a decision.

“Stay here and watch over him.” The knight said softly, Ray talking to Rouge and not Sir Silvers talking to the Queen. The blond haired woman nodded in response, her fingers gently playing with the boy's hair unconsciously.

The knight came back a couple of minutes later, Laura on his heels. He opened the door for her but stayed behind, resuming his task. He wasn't needed for this. His queen's handmaid, who already raised all five of her children into fine adults, knew more about this than he did, so he let her do what she was doing best. However, if he had hoped to simply keep watching Rouge's door for the rest of his evening, those hopes were crushed instantly as Laura and the Queen started giving him orders to fetch this or that, apparently all used to try and lower the child's fever. It couldn't be that bad, right? What surprised him the most though was when Rouge softly asked him to go fetch a nightdress in the heir's room. His heart sank a little at this request, but he did not oppose her. If it was a sign that she was finally getting over it, then it was certainly a good thing.

* * *

The woman came back in the Queen's quarters, tidying the whole living room. She stored the books back in the brown extensive library hiding most of the beige wallpaper decorated with maroon flowers delicately stretching on every wall near the pristine white ceiling. Softly humming an old happy song, she opened the shutters, a gust of fresh morning air bringing the nearby sea's salty smell to the old woman's nose. She smiled a little, remembering a memory of a young cheerful girl walking along the shore, hand in hand with a sweet-talking man with quite the handsome body. Chuckling a bit at the image, she proceeded with her tasks: chasing the dust away from every furniture and every corner of the area, washing the wooden floor with lavender-scented waters, scattering fresh herbs everywhere to erase the non-existent bad odours, replacing the cushions on the couch to make it look more tidy, and finally setting down their previous embroidery works on the small table across of it.

After opening the door leading to the bedroom to continue her job, a smile crept up on her lips at the sight before her. The boy was sleeping soundly in the way-too-large-bed-for-him, the covers reaching his neck to protect his body from the night's cold. His breathing was even, much to the woman's relief, since he looked like having trouble getting air in his lungs the previous night, and that had her worried for his health. Sitting on the ground next to the bed was the Queen, her head on her arms which were resting on the mattress next to the child. Her hair was a complete mess of gold and her nightdress would surely need some washing today, to erase every trace of dust clinging to it. The older woman knew Rouge had watched over the boy during most of the night. She must have been truly exhausted to fall asleep there. The handmaid's eyes came back to the child's face, gazing at his now treated wound under his eye, then she took notice of the well-folded clothe on his forehead. She walked next to her majesty, where a bowl of water stayed unmoving on the floor. Laura crouched and touched the water, taking its now average temperature. Noting to change it with fresh water, the woman headed for the wardrobe where she retrieve a soft-looking purple blanket. She gently put it on Rouge's shoulders, hoping not to wake her up from her peaceful slumber, then she grabbed the bowl and turned back. She stopped at the bedroom's door frame, looking at the adorable sight, before walking out, humming softly once again.

When Rouge finally woke up, she took a bit of time to look around her in an attempt to comprehend the situation. She was lying on the couch, a blanket covering her body, still in her nightdress. The room was highly illuminated by the now setting sun, its orange light pouring freely in and caressing everything, including her own face. She closed her eyes to protect them from the brightness, seeing spots of colours painted behind the walls of her eyelids. A soft breeze ruffled through her already dishevelled hair. She remembered staying on the child's side for most of the night, but she couldn't recall going to sleep in the living room. She assumes it was Rayleigh who brought her here, slightly blushing as an old memory made its way to her mind for a small moment before pushing it away. The boy was sick and definitely famished, it was no time for daydreams.

She had expected to see Laura, but to her surprise it was a black haired man with a moustache sitting on a chair next to the bed. He was in the process of changing the clothe for the child. He didn't stop when he heard the Queen enter, placing a now cold wet clothe on the boy's forehead to lower his body temperature.

“He didn't wake up yet, but he does seem to be getting better according to Laura.” Rouge smiled at this because she knew the man knew she would be worried about the child when she woke up and would want to know about his condition. She stood behind the man, hugging him tenderly from her spot.

“Thank you, darling.” She whispered in his ear. They stayed like this for a while, enjoying their rare privacy, both of them eyeing the small body laid in the bed.

“He... looks like him, doesn't he?” He had closed his eyes, as if trying to remember something, an almost invisible frown appearing in his face. Subtly, Rouge moved in front of him, crouching to get to his eyes level. The man opened his eyes when he felt two slim arms pull him into a delicate embrace. The Queen leaned forward and delivered a soft chaste kiss on her husband's lips, trying to cheer him up. In return, he gently grabbed her waist and let his head fall on her shoulder.

That's when they heard a small gasp coming from the bed. The couple stood up and their eyes met with grey orbs. They were a little hazed, probably because of the fever, and surprise and confusion were clear as day while the boy looked around him. However, when his gaze settled on Roger, his whole body language changed: his muscles tensed, his jaw locked, his fists clenched and his eyes, not looking away from the King for a split second, were filled with so much fear that is was painful to watch. Rouge had never seen a child so wary of strangers, and this sudden change in his emotions startled her. Oblivious to it all, Roger crouched beside the boy who instinctively backed away as much as he could without falling off the bed. Seeing this odd behaviour, the man frowned, then forced a big toothy smile in order to avoid scaring him further.

_But all he could see was the smile._

A shiver went up the child's back at the sudden memory, and he couldn't help but let out a whimper as the unknown man started to close the gap between them slowly, yet way too fast from the boy's point of view. The King stopped moving when he heard the small sob coming from the youth. The grey eyes kept staring at his hand stretched toward him. Sure, the boy was confused as to where he was and who Roger was, but why fear him? It's not like he could eat him! Ignoring the child's behaviour again, he took a hold of the tiny body. He heard a high shriek at his contact and the kid squirmed in his grasp, yelling and crying out as panic took over him completely. He was scared, that much was visible, but now that Roger was holding the boy in his arms, he couldn't just drop him on the ground: he could hurt him.

Suddenly, the bedroom's door swung open, Rayleigh at the ready for an enemy attack and sword in hands. It took him a while to comprehend the situation, and when he did, all he could do was stare, mouth agape. As soon as the youth noticed the second man in the room, his blood ran cold. He began trashing around, punching his captor with as much little strength he could muster, screaming bloody murder while tears were flowing out of his eyes freely. Roger was again taken aback with the child's reaction, too confused to do anything, and his wife was looking at the ground, her golden bangs shadowing her face as her clenched hands trembled with either sadness or powerlessness, the man couldn't tell. That's why, when the Queens finally snapped, he almost fell on his back out of surprise. She was angry. The red fire in her eyes proved it.

“Get out...” She hissed from behind her tightly closed jaw. Both Rayleigh and Roger looked at her in astonishment. Rouge was one whose patience could overthrow the world, but here she was getting pissed ̶̶ no ̶̶ furious at the men because an unknown child was throwing a tantrum over nothing. Seeing as none of them made a move to obey her, the child still trashing about in the King's arms, she took a deep breath.

“GET OUT! BOTH OF YOU!” Her lungs emptied at her shout and she was left panting. The black haired man slowly put the boy back in the bed before making a run for it together with the knight. Rouge was a lot scarier than any monsters they had fought against when she was angry. As soon as the men disappeared from the room and he felt no more arms restraining him, the child instantly calmed down. He was gasping for air which rapidly left him during his panic attack and a few tears were still sliding down his cheeks, but was definitely calmer. Rouge crouched beside the bed, not moving too fast as to not scare the kid anymore than he already had. She shushed him softly, whispering him that it was okay now and that he didn't have to worry anymore, that she was here now.

_And he saw a flash of red, and fear took hold of him again._

To the blond's bewilderment, the boy jumped toward her, his arms trying to surround her body as he buried his face in her chest, letting his emotions out. He started crying, from fear and sadness, but also from relief, because he finally felt secure again. Recovering from her stupefaction, Rouge returned the hug, the tiny arms squeezing her more as if to stop her from going away. She petted his head, her fingers gently ruffling through his black locks. That simple gesture eventually brought an end to the tears and sobs, and the child mumbled something between two sniffs that made the Queen's heart warm up a whole lot and some kind of flicker danced in her eyes as a strange mix of sadness and happiness made its way in her heart.

“Mother...”

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 When Laura came into the bedroom the next morning, she saw a black haired child snuggling really close to a sleeping beauty, clinging to her as he would with his real mother. The handmaid smiled sadly at them before shaking the Queen's shoulder to wake her up. She mumbled something incoherent as she wanted to sleep in, but eventually forced her eyes open, because she was a queen, and being a queen she had lots of duties to take care of. The child frowned a bit at the sudden loss of the comforting warmth and slowly woke up. His grey eyes were still hazed, and Rouge leaned in to touch his forehead.

“He still has a fever, Laura. And he must be extremely hungry. Would you be so kind as to make him take a bath while I go to the dining hall and fetch something to eat for the boy, my dear friend?” She whispered without adverting her gaze from the child's, as if she was trying to keep him from looking elsewhere. The older woman responded with an unseen nodded and ran off to get bucket or water, both warm and cold to regulate the bath's temperature. As she filled the tub, the Queen stopped brushing the child's hair with her fingers, but when she was about to get up and head out of her quarters, small hands desperately reached out to her, his eyes pleading her to stay with him. The fear in his eyes were slowly starting to return, and Rouge was scared of a possible outburst like the one had happened the night before. She wondered what could have happened to make such a young and innocent child into such an insecure being. She sighed and sat on the bed beside him, resuming scalp massage she had started earlier.

“Your majesty, the bath is ready.! The handmaid called. She heard a sigh from the Queen, which brought her back into the bedroom with concern for her. “What's wrong?”

“Can you go fetch the food instead?” She murmured, still playing with the child's bangs. “He doesn't seem to stomach seeing me walk away really well. I'll make him bathe, so meanwhile can you fetch the breakfast and a change of clothes from... _his_ room?” An old shadow came haunting the auburn eyes again, like it had been doing for a long time already, but it washed away a little when Laura nodded in response. “Right away.” And she disappeared behind the door.

Sliding an arm under his lower back and the other behind his head and hugging him tightly, the blonde scooped the child up from the bed and headed to the bath, filled with warm water. She proceeded with removing the boy's clothes while he stood in front of her, a hand on her shoulder to keep up his balance, weakened by his fever. She had seen his body already, but it was still breathtaking. His dirty skin was sticking to his bones, small cuts and bruises everywhere. He was so thin she could see his ribcage, each rib well defined, showing he had been underfed for a while already. He had some weird bruises on his neck, and although it was starting to fade, it was obvious he didn't get it after falling. Rouge picked the boy up again and placed him in the water. He stayed up, unmoving, as if he didn't know what she wanted him to do. She gave him a small smile and gently pushed him down into the tub.

_However, the water that had started warming him up filled his lungs painfully._

Having no strength left to defend himself, he whimpered and clung to the Queen's nightdress desperately. He didn't want to go in the water. He was scared it would happen again, and to his relief, the blonde understood. When he thought the woman would take him out of the danger zone, she instead removed her own clothes and stepped in beside the child. She sat at the bottom of the tub, the water stopping a little above her waist, and she motioned him to come closer. Now he was truly confused. Not only did she climbed into the menacing water herself, but she even pulled him into a comforting hug. She petted his head, smiling at him sweetly.

“It's alright. I promise it won't hurt.” Her whisper calmed the boy's trembling and his body relaxed in her arms. The Queen slowly started to run a clothe on the boy's legs, murmuring sweet and comforting words as she did so. She moved it to his stomach, then chest, rubbing the dirt away as roughly as she could without hurting him. Her touch becoming a lot more gentle, she passed the clothe over his bruises and cuts, making sure to clean them properly so they don't infect. The child winced a little and his grip on her shoulders tightened when she had to dislodge small rocks from his scrapped elbow. The clean water had before long become grey of dirt and Rouge knew they either had to change the water or take another bath this evening. Since Laura hadn't come back yet, she opted for the second choice. Hunching over the tub's side, the blonde dipped the dirtied clothe into the bucket of warm water, then put it on the boy's head to wet his hair. His body slightly tensed at that, but he didn't protest. He trusted her.

That's when the Queen's handmaid knocked on the door, announcing them that breakfast was set in the bedroom and fresh clothes were ready and waiting for them on the bed. Rouge thanked her and, climbing down the bath, proceeded with drying their bodies with a soft towel. Back in the room, she passed a creme tunic over the boy's head, tugging it down lightly to notice it was a bit too long and big for him. Since this was the smaller outfit they had, the child had no choice but to put up with it. Honestly, he didn't care. He was in fact quite content with it, for it was clean, unlike his old rags, and the fabric was soft, and much to his joy, not itchy. Soon after, the blonde had a white delicate clothe covering her own body, and Laura helped her to lace her beige corset put on top of it. The older woman pulled on the strings to tighten in to its maximum and kept it in pace with a knot. Rouge wore on top of it all a silk dark brown dress, split open in the front showing a milky coloured underdress. The sleeves were long and loose down the elbow, a silver string keeping the upper part of it tight around the woman's arms with the same crossing design of her corset. A tick pearly band was now surrounding her waist, the front making a beautifully curved “V” and tied at the back with a fancy looking loop. Once Laura finished doing her hair, Rouge turned to the boy and smiled at him while he was looking at her with bewilderment. He had never seen such pretty clothing in his whole life. The woman now truly looked like the Queen she was, he back straight, her chin up and her eyes showing her pride with fire.

“I haven't introduced myself yet.” Her fingers joined together in front of her belly erased by the corset, her royalty growing with that simple gesture. “My name is Portgas D. Rouge, wife of Gol D. Roger and Queen of the Gold Kingdom. What is your name, sweetheart?” Her blue eyes dove into his grey ones, unfaltering as he spoke his name with as much pride as hers. Because it was the name his mother gave him.

“Luffy.”

* * *

The Queen had left her quarters to assist her husband in some kind of a meeting, thus leaving Luffy alone with Laura. The handmaid gave him the best quality fruits they had for his light breakfast along with a small quantity of soup in which tiny pieces of meat were added to give the child the nutrients he needed to overcome his cold. She strongly felt like giving him a huge feast, since he had been underfed, but she knew this was for the best. To her relief, he didn't complain and even seemed content with that. While placing the dishes on the plate and the plate on the bedside table, she looked at the child from her eyes corner. His black bangs were too long, covering half of his silver eyes. A deep cut was under his left eye, promising to become a scar in the near future. His clothes were definitely too big for his tiny body, and muscles were invisible under his skin. He wasn't as developed as a boy his age should have been, probably because he had been famished. She looked around the room and a smile grew on her lips as an idea popped in her head. She was going to try and make him healthy again.

“Luffy, would you please help me?” She asked the more tenderly she could.

* * *

In this sunny morning, both child and maid cleaned the Queen's quarters. They replaced the bed sheets with cleaned ones, made the bed properly, chased every single existing dust from every corner of every room, they spread new herbs to make the quarters smell good. Laura then brought the boy with her to do the laundry in her own room, linked to the Queen's chamber so she could be there whenever her Lady called, and made him help her wash the bed sheets and the clothes they had removed earlier. When Luffy finally started to get tired from all of the work he was unused to, she made him lay on the couch in the living room and tucked him in a light blanket. His eyes closed to her humming. Once he had fallen asleep, the servant brushed his bangs away from his face and touched his forehead gently only to notice he was a little warm, although it was nothing to worry about. She left the Queen's quarters, the plate of empty dishes in hand, and left the boy take his much needed rest.

 

_The boy ran. And ran. He had listened to his every word, did what he had ordered him to do, so why was he trying to hurt him still? The child couldn't understand. But he was scared, so he ran. His legs were weak and heavy, the usually soft hand was rough and hurting his wrist, tears fell down his cheeks and blurred his vision, sobs left him, making him search for air as he was still running. Everything hurt so bad, but he was scared, so he ran._

 

Luffy woke up with a start. He was breathing fast and sweating a lot, but all of that didn't matter, because he wasn't feeling good. Beside him was the blonde, trying to shush his sobs with calming sounds, but the words he couldn't understand. Her auburn eyes turned to look somewhere else, her voice, muffled as if it was underwater, got a little louder, but the boy was too tired to try and comprehend anything. His stomach churned wildly, something he never experienced before, and left him really uncomfortable. He wasn't feeling well and he didn't like that. It scared him.

Rouge had seen the signs long before Luffy knew, so when his breakfast past his lips, there was a bucket right before him. The woman traced comforting circles on his back with a hand and held the boy's long hair out of the way with the other.

* * *

Three days had passed since that afternoon. Luffy still had a light fever, but he was a lot better than then. He never vomited after that, although he did dry heaves a few times during the evening and night following that incident. There was always a woman beside him, to check up on him, be it either Rouge or Laura, and only that made him feel better, secured. He didn't want to be alone again. When he got well enough to eat a well-balanced meal without throwing it up, the handmaid made him help her do her everyday chores again, but she never let him leave the Queen's quarters. In the evening, instead of working on her embroidery as usual, the blonde would sit with Luffy on the couch and discuss a little with him. At first, he didn't talk much. He'd only answer her questions with a nod or a short sentence if necessary. However, it didn't take him too much time to open up to her. He eventually started talking about the food he liked, the animals that made him squeal and the colours that made him dream. The Queen soon noticed that he was always smiling whenever they talked together and even when he was doing cleaning with Laura. His face would lit up instantly when any one of them came back to the quarters after leaving him alone for a short while, which did not happen often. To him, any exercise was like a game and he clearly enjoyed spending time with Rouge. The blonde easily got attached to him, and for a while she felt like she had come back to a few years ago. However, the boy was healing fast, and she knew he eventually had to go back to his home. And that day was coming soon.

“Luffy” She called softly, her mouth resting on the boy's head, snuggling to each other in the bed with the intent of going to sleep. “Do you mind telling me about your family?” The child made no sound or move to let her know if he had heard her or not, so the Queen asked it in another way. “Where are your parents, Luffy?” His body tensed at that, leaving Rouge to wonder whether she had made a mistake asking that or not. He snuggled a little closer to the comforting warmth, gripping the woman's nightdress tighter.

_The blonde was lying on the ground, not too far away from his hideout. It was nighttime so the child couldn't quite see any details, but as he tried to shook her awake, he felt liquid slipping between his fingers. Was she crying?_

“Sleeping.” He whispered back, and he suddenly felt more alone than ever, and strangely guilty. Luffy had always lived with his mother, but he had left her behind that night. As much as he was lonely, he was certain that his mother was lonely too. He had done something mean to her. Auburn eyes softened at the thought of a possible reason for that answer, and petted the boy's head.

“Do you know where?” She asked again, but Luffy only shook his head. “Honey... you do know that you have to go back home, right?”

_Black._

The child hugged her even tighter if it was possible and moved his head from left to right furiously. Sighing, the Queen grabbed his shoulders and forcefully pushed him away. His grey eyes reflecting the candlelight beam showed his worry and insecurity, and Rouge's maternal instinct almost took over. However, she was able to control it and when Luffy tried to hug her again, she stopped him by cupping his face in her gentle hands. “You can't stay here forever, sweetheart.” Her voice, although showing a bit of pity, was firm as she wanted to get her point across. “You have to go back to your family, Luffy.” A frown appeared on his face. He shook his head again, though this time more timidly and slower than before. The blonde couldn't help but wonder the reasons behind his refusal. “Why?” That simple word was strong enough to cause tears swell up into the silver orbs.

“No one is going to be home.” He said before releasing a sob, his voice slightly higher pitched than usual. Was that why he had been underfed and probably roaming the streets? Being abandoned at such a young age was definitely a cruel fate for the boy, but she knew it wasn't that rare an occurrence within the lower classes. After all, a child was only one mouth more to feed. Rouge pulled the child back in her arms, hugging him gently.

“Oh Luffy... I'm so sorry...” She whispered. They stayed like this for a while, then the tiny body against her relaxed and his sobs stopped to become even and deep breaths. “Good night, sweetheart.” The Queen breathed out softly, placing a chaste kiss on his forehead.

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 “Let's take him in.” Roger looked blankly at his wife, not yet processing what she had said. The Queen had brought him to the strategy room, wanting to talk to him in total privacy. A servant had followed them in to serve them some tea, but as soon as she disappeared behind the door, Rouge had gone straight to the point. She had explained that the lost child they had found a few days ago – Luffy, she called him – had nowhere to go and suddenly proposed to take him in. Wait – did she mean adopt him?

“Wha –”

“I said,” she cut him before repeating, “let's take him in.” Her auburn eyes locked into his brown ones, determination clear on her face. No matter what he'd say, her mind was set on that fact. Still, the statement was too sudden for his brain to accept it right away.

“What about his family?” A glint of anger dangerously lit up in her brown reddish orbs before she sighed and forced herself into calmness.

“He was abandoned. Either both parents are dead, or his father left him behind after his wife's death. In other words, he has no where to return to. If we kick him out, he'll only roam the streets desperately again. That's why I think we should take him in. He's too young to live by himself and he needs people to care for him.” The Queen paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “Besides, we need a heir.” Her voice sounded strong and firm, but a frown had appeared on her face. Her husband held the same pained expression as he remembered a young raven haired boy.

“Rouge...” The King whispered, placing a calloused hand on the two gentle ones with intertwined fingers. The blonde looked up at him, a sad smile lingering on her lips. “You will only hurt yourself. That boy, Luffy, is not our child. Taking him in will only make painful memories haunt you down again. I do not want that.” Before the Queen could object, Roger leaned in and stole her lips for only a few seconds, although the time seemed to have stretched eternally for the couple. When he pulled back, the King almost flinched at his wife sudden change. Her facial expression had become more relaxed, her smile had become a grin and her pained eyes had become a confident glare. He now knew she wouldn't back down.

“I do not live in the past anymore, darling. And I do not plan to go back to those times. This child needs help and we have the capacities to provide care to him. So I will help him. There is nothing to worry about.” Her tone, in that last sentence, clearly meant that the discussion was over and that she had made her choice. Roger put on his widest smile. Seriously, his wife was something to be proud of. For once, he was happy – no –, he was overjoyed with his parents' decision. They had chosen the best woman out there to be his lifelong companion, and he couldn't help himself from falling in love all over again and again with her. She was just formidable.

“In that case” he started, taking a sip of his tea, “I'll go meet this boy formally this evening.” He ended while gently putting the cup down on the table between him and his wife.

“No.” The Queen bluntly said before looking outside the window. Rocky mountains could be seen ripping the clouded sky, protected by a heavy and tick forest. Beyond the castle's protective walls stood a highly populated town. Children were running around in the street, not minding the hard working passerby's they were bothering in their race. Even though she couldn't see it from where she sat, Rouge knew there was a harbour to the right, where sailors were probably unloading the nets full of fishes they were planning on selling at the town's market. She looked back at her husband, then at her hand on her lap before explaining. “He is still ill and stressing him wouldn't be good.” Roger knew about the child's fear outbursts, which seemed to be triggered by men presence. After that first night, the blonde had forbid both him and their faithful knight from entering her quarters as long as the boy was there to avoid any unnecessary panic attack, and they had complied. He knew it was best not to get inside the child's vision, but knowing Rouge was planning to adopt him, he was strongly excited to meet him and learn about him. Yet, he left the decision to the Queen as to when he will finally be able to show up in front of the kid.

“Fine.” He grumbled, a little disappointed.

* * *

Luffy had noticed the man even before he entered the room. He was tall, at least one head taller than Rouge, and was standing not far behind her. He had raven locks just like his own, plus a tick moustache of the same black. Covering his developed musculature, a deep red tunic with silver embroidery were hiding a part of his pants, at the end of a pair of black big boots protected the man's feet. Gray orbs caught a glimpse of something shiny before dropping on a gold jewelry standing proudly on the man's head. Roger, sensing the boy's scrutinizing gaze on him, only gave him a big toothy grin, which sadly didn't seem to reassure him. He stood at the door frame, like his wife instructed him to, as she greeted the child with a kiss on his forehead. Miraculously, she was able to make him tear his gaze away from the Kind by showing him the feast she had brought for breakfast, Without forgetting the menacing presence, he jumped on his meal, stealing a few glances his way before looking back at Rouge who called his name each time he did. The man never entered the room. He simply stood there, watching his wife interact with the fearful child.

This went on for a couple of days until Rouge judged Luffy ready to take a new step toward her goal. That day, the King didn't stand at the door frame; he entered the room. The very first step he took passed the door, the boy looked worriedly at him. He glared at him for a very long time, Roger unmoving as to not trigger any outburst, then , to everyone's surprise, Luffy's body language completely relaxed and he tore his gaze away, looking at the food in front of him. Strangely, there was something about the man that screamed _protection_ , and Luffy welcomed that unknown yet comfortable feeling with open arms. For women, that sensation was completely normal to him, but somehow, that man's positive aura was overwhelming, a few times more powerful than Rouge and Laura combined together. That's why, as immense as it was, Luffy wasn't able to feel even a little bit scared at his presence. Actually, it felt good. He could feel more good than he ever had because the man's smile, eyes, posture, musculature, height, hands, everything about him promised security and... and love. It was weird, since the boy didn't really want the man to go away like he normally would. Instead, he didn't want to let him go, he wanted to stay with him, near him. He wanted to keep him inside his view, to always feel his protectiveness. Hell, he even wanted to talk to him and do fun things with him. He suddenly understood that it might have been something that he absolutely missed a lot in his previous years. No, he won't let him go away.

He tugged at the Queen's long dress to get her attention, then looked back at Roger with his big owly grey eyes, burning with curiosity, while pointing at him. Recovering from her bewilderment faster than her husband, Rouge smiled down at him before proceeding with the answer to the unspoken question.

“This man is Gol D. Roger, King of the Gold Kingdom, and also my husband.” Luffy never looked away as the blonde introduced the man to him and, remembering what his mom had once thaught him, he carefully bowed down in an almost elegant way.

“It's a pleasure to make your akintwence.” He said before straightening his back up again, looking at the King with sparkling orbs and an overly huge toothy smile that almost reflected the one the grown-up man was showing him. “My name is Luffy.” Roger was once again taken aback, not because of the messed-up word, but because of the boy's strange behaviour. First, he was eyeing him suspiciously, then as soon as he entered the room, his insecurity dropped to zero and was replaced by curiosity, then he shows his knowledge in formal greetings, which was weird in itself. It was surprising for a commoner to know such formalities, and for a while the King thought that maybe this child was rather from a noble's family. However, if that was the case, he would have received mentions of a lost noble's child long ago, which did not happen. Whoever taught him that, Roger was a little thankful to them. It meant a lesson less to teach him. Rouge chuckled behind her hand, petting Luffy's head lovingly with the other.

“It's acquaintance, sweetheart, not akintwence.”

* * *

The royal couple decided to officially announce the adoption at the Harvest Festival. However, they still had two months before then, and Rouge wanted to take this time to start giving Luffy lessons. The boy didn't know how to read and write, so she considered introducing him on of the castle's permanent scribe, but the one she had in mind was man. And men were not allowed to step in her quarters, plus she still wasn't sure what would Luffy's reaction be. She could have tried it out, but she did not want to let the boy wander in the hallways, not when practically no one knew of his relation with her. That's why she was overjoyed when Laura told her that Belle-mère had come back to the castle. Even though the Queen knew that this meant that the woman had either faced obstacles on her journey or that her business had been too bad that she had no choice but to come back, Rouge couldn't help but feel extremely happy at this coincidence. She summoned the female scribe, the only one she knew – because being a scribe was a job for men, since its constant travels were quite dangerous, and simply because women were to live the lives of women – to her quarters to discuss of her next job.

As soon as the Queen closed the door to the living room, the scribe slumped down on the couch, savouring how comfortable it was compared to travelling temporary beds. She sighed, completely exhausted. She almost looked sick. She had probably hurried to change into a proper attire fit to privately meet the Queen, but the auburn eyes easily noticed the dirt still lingering on the woman's skin. Although she had washed her face clean, the dark circles beneath the scribe's eyes proved how tiring her journey had been. The woman had combed her hair hastily, seeing as orange locks stood wildly on her head in a dishevelled way.

“Nami.”

“Your majesty?” Amusement filled the girl's eyes at the gentle and caring tone showing in the Queen's voice. That blonde sure worried often, even when she knew her subjects – especially her – knew how to care for themselves. Said woman sighed inwardly before sitting down elegantly on the arm chair in front of the orange head.

“How did your journey go?” She asked, even though she already had a pretty good idea. It didn't go well for sure.

“The few weeks following the Spring Festival have been really good. The travels went smoothly and the inns I stopped at were welcoming, the beds comfortable and the food delicious. Plus, I was able to sell almost all of the manuscripts I had copied from your library to the nobles I visited. When I reached Snakful Land, I found plenty of herbs for my coloured inks and the trees' bark made paper of really good quality. However, once I passed Owling Land, I got attacked by road bandits. I was able to fairly defend myself well. They ended up running away leaving one of their comrades behind, unconscious. Sadly, they damaged my tools and the documents I had to deliver, so out of options and money, I had to come back here earlier. I am sorry to have failed you, your majesty.” Nami had been too caught in her tale to notice the blonde sitting beside her. She startled when a gentle hand gripped her shoulder to comfort her.

“Don't worry about that, my friend. More importantly, were you injured during this assault?” Rouge unconsciously raise her eyebrows with concern, her eyes expecting a serious answer and no jokes in an attempt to change the subject. There was no avoiding it.

“No, I was not hurt at all.” Came the reply, a small smile on the scribe's lips to reassure the woman. It was a lie. In fact, she received a few blows, resulting in scratches and bruises, but she knew the Queen would make a fuss about it.

“Everything's fine then!” The royal woman returned to her armchair, her worry completely dissipated. “In fact you returned just at the right time. I need you.” Her interlocutor wasn't looking at her anymore. The orange head's gaze was now directed to the side, and before the Queen could turn her head to follow it, she felt something tugging at her arm. She looked down beside the chair to see big owly grey orbs looking at her.

“Rouge...” The boy practically whispered, tears swelling up in his eyes. He repeated her name between two sniffles, still tugging at her sleeves. Forgetting her guest, the blonde petted Luffy's hair lovingly.

“What is it, sweetheart?” She already knew what was wrong. Ever since she had taken the child in three weeks ago, he had been suffering nightmares during his slumbers. She had made him take a nap before summoning the scribe to her quarters and she knew he had fallen asleep before long. So a nightmare was highly possible. Luffy reached both his hands out to her in a silent demand to receive comfort. He would always seek Rouge's company, and when she wasn't available, he'd go to Laura whenever he woke from one. The Queen smiled softly at the boy, raising him on her laps. He was now straddling her legs, holding her sleeves like his life depended on it, tears finally falling from his eyes that were plunged into the auburn ones. “It's okay now.” She murmured while pulling him into a hug. Luffy wrapped his tiny arms around Rouge's neck and eventually fell asleep to her hand rubbing smooth circles on his back and the other holding his head down on her shoulder.

“Your majesty?” The blonde looked up at the scribe, only now remembering of her presence.

“He's the reason I summoned you, my friend.” She started explaining the whole situation, keeping her voice down to not wake Luffy from his peaceful slumber. The Queen got so attached to the child rapidly and easily in those short three weeks, that much was obvious. Nami couldn't blame her, Luffy was way too adorable for his own good.

* * *

Two months passed awfully fast. Luffy's presence in the Queen's quarters was now something usual, but it always brought much joy to Rouge. He had been studying under Nami's teaching ever since that day, and he was learning fast. He still had a lot of difficulties to read, but he was able to retrace every letter almost perfectly. The female scribe had much hope for him, and she guessed that before long he won't need her lessons anymore. The blonde was glad that Nami accepted her offer. Not only did it erase the boy's growing boredom, but it also allowed Rouge to concentrate on her tasks instead of taking care of Luffy. The Harvest Festival was coming closer and closer and not only did she and Roger had to send invitation to nobles to stay at the castle, to hire musicians, puppeteers, story tellers and other artists, to choose the dishes that will be served throughout the week's festivities, to order the necessary products, be it food, wine or beer, to prepare the opening and closing ceremonies, to prepare their speeches... the list was endless. On top of it all, Rouge had to prepare a fitting room for her newly adopted son, a quarter of his own, to take measure for new clothes adjusted just for him, to test and choose his future teachers for each different subjects, taking into consideration that he might still fear men. She also had to choose him a personal servant, preferably around his age, to accompany him, relieve him of possible boredom and to make sure he has everything he needs. And a bodyguard.

“Ray.” She called softly to the man standing not too far behind her. The knight looked at both ends of the hallway to make sure no one was around before replying.

“What is it, Rouge?” His voice was low to not attract any attention, but it still was heard by the woman.

“I have a favour to ask of you. Once Luffy's adoption will be made official and known to my people, I want you to stay beside my son at all times.” She knew this wouldn't be easy for the older man. He had always been her and only her bodyguard, not even _his_ , and she regretted it. That's why she didn't want to make the same mistake again. “Stay by him at all times, even when he asks you to leave. Follow him in his errands and his lessons, never let him out of your sight.” He didn't want to. He didn't want to leave her well-being and protection into another guard's hands, but he knew how much it meant to her, how much she trusted him to give him this important task. “Will you do me this favour?”

“Of course, Rouge. I won't let anything happen to him.”

* * *

The Harvest Festival was right at the corner. It was a whole week of celebrations for the warm season's successful harvests. People from all over Gold Kingdom, nobles AND peasants, were gathering in the town surrounding the royal castle for the parties to be held there. During that week, everyone from the Kindgom were allowed inside the walls and the castle was usually crowded. Nobles had already arrived a few days earlier to enjoy their stay in the castle's guest rooms and their host's hospitality. Excitement and eagerness could be felt in the air and nervousness was obviously taking hold of the workers. The servants were mentally getting ready for the week's events that would without a doubt leave them exhausted.

The opening ceremony was the following day, and as much as she was excited for the festivities, the Queen was also nervous. The castle was overflowing with strangers and each of them were possible threats for the royal family. Even though it had been decided that the declaration of Luffy's adoption was to be made at the closing ceremony, she couldn't help but be worried about the boy.

“My lady” Laura called, pulling the blonde out of her thoughts. “It seems like your brother finally arrived and is waiting for you in the private saloon.”

“Thanks you, my friend.” She got up, dusting the non-existing dirt away from her dress. Before leaving, she turned back to her handmaid, her hand on the doorknob. “Please take care of Luffy for me.”

“Of course, my lady.”

* * *

When she opened the door to the saloon, she was met with an impressive and intimidating figure waiting for her. Her brother was standing next to the window, sipping tea while enjoying the view. He turned to look at her, golden hair loose falling on her shoulder, and grinned at her never-disappearing beauty. She shone back a smile to him, happy to finally see her big brother after a few months, last time they saw each other being at the last Spring Festival.

“Hey there, little sister.” He greeted. She practically ran to him and jumped in his arms with happiness.

“Long time no see, Teach!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, by the way, the first few chapters aren't beta-ed at all... I don't remember exactly starting from which chapter it is, but you'll probably notice anyway!


	4. Chapter 4

 It's good to see you again, Rouge.” Both siblings were sitting in front of each other, a cup of warm tea in hands. They shared news to the other, enjoying their meeting after six months with no contact between the two Portgas. The Queen's family was of high noble status. They had their own land, which had been their possession since ancient times. Rouge and Teach had been raised by their father, and although they had different mothers, both man and woman considered themselves like real siblings since a very young age, probably because Rouge's mother, Feather, always considered Teach as her own son. His biological mother died when he was only a few years old, so when Feather came in, it was like she had always been there. Eventually, Feather died because of a sickness, but by then, Rouge had already been promised to the Kingdom's only prince. Not long after the blonde moved to the castle, the siblings' father died. Teach became the new landlord, and, along with his wife, he took over their parents' business. It was already eating his time away, but when his wife died, leaving him alone to take care of both their land and their two years old daughter, he was just overwhelmed. Now that his daughter moved to her husband's house, the black-bearded man had more time for himself and could again visit his sister once in a while. However, he still had their parents' business to take care of, so they couldn't see each other much, but that just made their few meetings much more enjoyable. No matter how much it was enjoyable, though, there's always an end to everything. The siblings talked for an hour at most, Rouge hiding everything about Luffy, to keep it a surprise, but eventually the Queen had to excuse herself because she had much to do. Yes, lots of preparations to do.

The Harvest Festival has always been a big event. Every year, the royal couple would organize these one-week-lasting festivities to reward both the nobles and the peasants for their Summer's hard works and to allow them to forget the worries growing along with the soon-coming of Winter and it's cold temperature for a while. Like every year, this night's opening ceremony had both the High and Common dining halls full. In the first, young ladies gossiped in groups about some good-looking lads standing beside their father, discussing openly with other lords about business, health, family and wealth. Some tried to make arrangements to find a suitable man for their daughter, while others simply enjoyed their partner's company. In the second dining hall, soldiers off-duty were wearing their best outfit, already enjoying good quality beer alongside farmers and townspeople. Women complained about their hopeless husband, young lads tried to steal the heart of their loved one while singles daughters tried to charm as many men as possible. Children were sitting on the stone floor all around the only lit fireplace out of three, listening to a female servant telling old tales of heroes and extinct winged beasts.

When the royal couple entered the High dining hall, both rooms became dead quiet. All seats among the Long Table were taken by their respective owners and not a single soul was left standing as the King, then the Queen, made their speech, showing their respect and gratitude to their guests and thanking everyone for their hard labour and fulfilled accomplishments of the year. After the speech came the diner. Servants and maids placed silver plated on the Long Table, serving the nobles with the highest quality food they could afford, along with some fine and delicate wine. The High dinner hall was practically quiet compared to the Common on, where some already drunk men talked louder than necessary. The kitchen was overflowing with activities, servants taking the plates prepared by lots of cook working under the orders of one certain blond chief. After the meal, the King ordered the minstrels to come in and do their work, chanting ancient old tales and newly created comedies of their own. Later on, the tables were set aside to make a fine dancing space and when the musician started playing, the royal couple accompanied other nobles in a classical beautiful dance. Meanwhile, in the Common dinning hall, a tall man started a fiery rhythm on his own violin, standing on an emptied table and encouraging men to drink more beer and ale and dance drunk on the other tables. When the party died, it was in the early morning of the next day, and both King and Queen had excused themselves long hours ago.

The whole week was spent that way. The quests would wake up around midday for the most while a few others kept their etiquette and woke when the sun rose. The autumn was still quite warm, much to their delight, so they could enjoy a quiet afternoon in the castle's gardens or, for more courageous and adventurous ones, on the sea's shore. In the evening, the festivities continued.

Throughout all that week, the royal couple were expected to assist every diner, so they did. Roger discussed business with his landlords while Rouge spent some pleasurable time with their wives. Although the preparations and procedures had been tiresome, they both had fun and memorable moments from this active week. Still, the Queen was anxious. So many strangers were allowed to roam inside the castle's walls; anyone could be an enemy. Of course, guards were watching every corner of the stone building, but the blonde never let her guard down. It was about the only time she truly was relieved to have Rayleigh as a bodyguard to follow her everywhere. She was also glad that Luffy was always watched, by either Laura or Nami, so he wouldn't come out of her quarters.

The week passed fast and with no accident or riot. Sure, there had been a few fights between drunk men, but nothing on a huge scale. The closing ceremony went as smooth as the opening one, much to the royal couple's relief. Honestly, Rouge was worried as to what reaction the news of her adoption would bring about, but it seemed like it was accepted fairly well. She still could see disappointment, reluctance, and even anger in some pairs of eyes, and it was understandable. After all, heritage was supposed to go to blood relatives, not some bastard child. For some noble, the adoption was practically illegal. It broke some hearts to know that the Queen had to turn to such methods to have a heir. All of that, she could see in their eyes, and she was glad it was the only bad reaction she received. During the party, nobles came to the royal couple, and offered them felicitations. Some mentioned the possibility that their sons could become great friend with the heir, others proposed to send the boy some presents and most women wondered out loud when they would get to meet the new prince personally. The nobles were already trying to get on Luffy's good side even before having seen the child.

* * *

The room was huge. There was a huge bed in the middle, its elegantly carved headboard pushed against the wall. There was a huge window to the right, the windowsill big enough to sit and even lay on it. There was a huge chest filled with newly made high-class clothes, on the wall opposing the bed. On it stood an empty porcelain basin, blue roses petals printed beautifully on its white shiny surface. A huge mirror was partially hiding the creme wall, standing above the chest. In the corner between it and the window stood a huge clean fireplace, a reserve of chopped wood right beside it. The last wall of all, on the left, was free from any obstruction. Covering it was a huge tapestry designed with a huge winged beast fighting against an armoured swordsman. He seemed like an insect compared to the beast, its red glowing eyes staring at him, dangerous-looking teeth ready to shred _anything_ apart as its mouth was wide open in a silent roar. One if its huge paw was almost touching the sky, preparing to fall down fast and hard enough to tear the man's body with its menacing huge claws.

The Queen patted Luffy's shoulder, encouraging him to step further into the room. Feeling the autumn night's chill, she quietly made her way to the corner and started a fire. She fed the flame with one more piece of wood before turning back to her son. The blonde settled beside him on the bed, looking at the tapestry.

“I'm sorry, we didn't have time to change any of the wallpapers.” He was looking at the scene intensively, but she wasn't sure if it was out of distaste or interest. In response, the boy beamed his usual toothy grin to her saying without talking that he actually liked it. The Queen chuckled a bit as he turned his gaze back to the wall.

Rouge had prepared her son's quarters to the best of her abilities with the small amount of time she possessed. It was simply consisted of his bedroom and a living room. When you open the door to his quarters, you stumble inside a tiny workplace. The space was filled with a small sofa in front of a fireplace, a bookshelf standing beside a large desk accompanied with a wooden chair. Rouge had wanted to give him something bigger, but it was the only place available for the moment. If the need arose at some time, she would move Luffy upstairs, but for now, this will have to do.

“Sweetheart, it's getting late...” The blonde waltzed to the chest, taking out a nightdress. After helping her son into the lavender-scented clothes, fitted perfectly to the boy's body, she tucked him in bed and kissed him goodnight. As she stood back up to blow the candle out, a tiny hand gripped the hem of her dress. “What is it, Luffy?” His grey eyes held small sparkles of fear, and although the reason was unclear to her, the Queen sat back on the bed.

“Rouge... Stay with me?” The boy asked timidly, still holding onto the fabric.

“Of course, sweetheart.” The blonde stroke his black bangs away from his silver orbs. Hearing her name flying slowly from the child's mouth, she was reminded of the closing ceremony of the Harvest Festival. “Luffy, you're my son now, you have to understand what that means. You still have to learn a lot of things...” She kept silent for a short while before her thoughtful expression broke into a shiny smile which reflected her sudden idea. “I know! Why don't you try calling me mommy?” The word stroke a cord deep within Luffy, feeling his being filled with warmth, with _love_. And he just knew this was the right word to describe the woman who had taken care of him, who had talked with him, played with him and moreover, who had shown him _love_. Before he even knew it, the boy whispered those two syllables, with an emotion-filled voice and tears in the corner of his eyes.

“Mommy.” He remembered some warm embrace and suddenly longed for it. Rouge was taken aback by a pair of small arms wrapping themselves around her waist. Luffy tried to stop his tears, his body shaking with the effort to hold it all in. However, when the Queen pulled him deeper and tighter in a hug, he cried out. He cried out for his mother he had lost. He cried out for his love for her. He cried out out of relief, because he finally had her in his life again.

He eventually fell asleep, his face still hidden in his mother's chest. Sadly, though, Rouge had to come back to her own quarters. She had promised her husband to meet him later, to talk about the weeks that were to follow. If she came late, he'd worry a whole lot for her. Plus, it was _Luffy's_ quarters. He finally could sleep alone. He had the whole bed for himself, and she was sure he'd enjoy it soon enough. With that thought, she blew the candle out and headed to the hall. She still had a lot to prepare.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know, this chapter was a bit boring... but you get a cute little moment at the end! AND I'm pretty sure the chapters get better and better with time! You'll see!


	5. Chapter 5

 Luffy startled awake, beads of sweat covering his skin and his black bangs stick to his forehead. He was breathing heavily, the remnant of his nightmare still fresh in his mind. He was scared, so scared. He remembered a dark and cold place, completely dark with no one by his side to protect him. He felt like invisible pairs of eyes were looking intensively at him, ready to jump on his small and frail body any time and devour him alive. He looked around him, and all he could see was the dark, the red embers illuminating absolutely nothing of the room. He remembered being brought here by Rouge and he knew she wasn't here anymore. The bed felt too big for him, all around him the comforting covers felt cold and strangely uncomfortable. He heartbeat went a bit faster, suddenly realizing he didn't want to be alone. He hated to be alone.

He rose up to his feet, jumping down the huge bed, and made his way safely and easily to his study. There, however, the fireplace was completely empty of any lighting source and the window closed shutters were hiding the moonlight from entering the room. The boy waited a bit for his eyes to adjust, in vain, and finally, out of fear and insecurity, tip-toed his way to the slim light band that was coming from behind the exit door. If he could at least get there, there would be no more darkness, and maybe he could find a way to get to Rouge. His hand reached up, and when he opened the door to his relief, he almost choked out of shock. This could not be happening. This was the worst.

* * *

The castle was asleep. That night, there were no more festivities, the doors were closed and most of the guests were long gone. Only a few stayed for further business with the King and at this early hour, they were all deep in sleep, gone to dream lands. The only people fully awake in the whole stone building were te numerous guards roaming the halls. The bearded swordsman was on of those. The only difference, though, was that he did not walk back and forth from wall to wall, but stayed feet planted in the ground guarding one particular door. A door behind which everything was silent as the rest of the castle. A door behind which a small bot slept soundly. A door behind which the prince of the Gold Kingdom experienced the life of a heir for the first time of his life. A door which, he just noticed, slipped open silently.

As soon as he heard the low, almost mute, creak of a wooden door opening, Sir Silvers turned around swiftly, his hand going instinctively to his sword's handle. However, before him only stood a young frightened child. His little hands were shaking, holding the door so tight that his knuckles were white. Rayleigh stood slightly surprised for a short while, then he released the grip on his weapon, relaxing. Right. If the enemy really came _from_ the door he was supposed to protect, he'd definitely be a failure as a guard. Still, as he saw the boy's eyes become wet, the swordsman started to think he's prefer to deal with an enemy than a crying six years old child. The door slowly closing was what brought him back from his thoughts.

“Wait!” His voice came out as a whisper as he unconsciously moved his feet in the small opening left, stopping the door from completely closing. Luffy looked fearful, looking straight back at the warrior with red eyes. He just couldn't leave him alone like that. “What's wrong, kid?” There were long minutes of silence, the child seemingly hesitant to say or do anything. His mouth had opened a few times, but no word had come out of his throat. The silence was broken, though, when a small murmur reached the guard's ears.

“Rouge.” Luffy was clearly unsure about the whole situation, maybe even scared. Rayleigh remembered when the boy had panicked seeing him and Roger, and he definitely didn't want that to happen again. Well, maybe he could escort the prince to his adoptive mother. He only hoped seeing the child at her door would calm her anger from being woken up in the middle of the night. Surely, Sir Silvers didn't want to be faced with the Queen's fury. He couldn't help but he feel he wouldn't live through it.

* * *

Luffy woke up to the sound of paper being played with. The first thing he noticed was Rouge's absence. The second thing he noticed, as his eyes fluttered open, was that he was back in his new room. He clearly remembered having climbed in his mother's warm bed to snuggle with her. It wasn't a dream. So he could only guess that someone, the guard maybe, had brought him back once he had fallen asleep.

“You're finally awake, sleepyhead.” Luffy sat up in his bed, slightly confused to hear a voice other than the Queen's so early in the morning. His grey orbs met with orange ones for a while, sharing a moment of silence and confusion, before the boy remembered that he had lessons this morning.

“Nami!” He exclaimed happily. It was always fun spending time with her. She was always making him do weird drawings – letters she called them – and he had to decipher what was in the books she brought with her. Writing wasn't so bad. He knew he was getting better and better at tracing and copying the letters. Reading, however, was another matter. It was hard and he had to fully concentrate to be able to read a whole sentence aloud. He didn't particularly liked reading. In fact, he preferred when other people read it for him; it was way more amusing.

“Come on, Luffy. Get up.” Nami headed back to the other room as she continued to set his desk for the lesson. “Go wash yourself!” She yelled from the study. “The water is still warm, so consider yourself lucky. You did overslept after all!”

Once he was done, the scribe chose him a simple yet classy outfit. Basically, it was a loose tunic tainted in the brightest red possible with a pair of tight beige pants comfortable enough to move around as it pleases you. There was a golden eagle sewed on the front of the red fabric, a pale blue stone embed in it to replace its glowing eye. Luffy had seen the symbol several times on his new parents' clothes. When he had asked about it, Laura had explained that the golden bird represented power and wealth, and the blue stone was a reminder of the sky, of freedom.

Nami helped him put his brown boots on, then buckled up his belt, before brushing his still slightly wet hair. She brushed them again once her lesson was done with for the day, having completely dried during the hour the prince spent with her.

“Luffy,” she started, crouching in front of the boy, “today is the beginning of a new life for you. You will take different classes and learn a lot of things. I can't it it is going to be fun times,” Luffy frowned a bit at this, 2but I can tell you your days will be full and that you won't have a lot of time for yourself.” The scribe seemed thoughtful for a little while, looking at the now opened window. Fresh salty air was blowing softly in the room, ruffling her orange hair a bit as she stood up and headed for the sill. “The Queen will be here soon.” As if the words were working magic, the quarters' door flew open, letting the heir see Rouge's illuminated face. She seemed so happy that Luffy was unable to stop a toothy grin to reach his ears.

“Good morning, sweetheart. You have a visitor today.” The blonde stepped aside, letting the prince's eyes fall on a blue-haired woman. She was slightly shorter than his adoptive mother, but held a similar grace, a similar... aura. “She is one of your new teachers.” The stranger walked up to Luffy before kneeling to his eye level.

“My name is Nerfertari Vivi, but you can just call me Vivi. Nice to meet you!” She smiled at him, her eyes half closed in joy. Luffy let his gaze wander on her unusual blue hair, his grey orbs wide with wonder. It looked so much like the sky he felt he could actually fly in its freedom. A hand petting his head affectionately brought him back to earth and he remembered what he had to do. The prince took a tiny step back, just to have enough space to make a small formal bow before introducing himself.

“My name is Luffy. It is a pleasure to make your akintwence,” then, he added almost in a whisper, as if too shy yo say it out loud, “Vivi.” In response, the blue-eyed woman took a deep breath slowly before jumping on the boy in a tight hug with a high-pitched squeal.

“So adorable!” She wailed, not letting the suffocating heir go. Only when he stopped breathing did she pulled her arms back, finally allowing him to live. Her smile had faded away into a worried frown as she looked at Luffy who was gasping for air. “I am so sorry for that Luffy... I didn't mean to...” The prince only nodded in response, grinning from ear to ear. He didn't know why, but he liked this woman. Although she had practically choke him to death, he could feel she was kind and caring.

“She will be teaching you manners, sweetheart.” The Queen said as she waved goodbye to the scribe who silently left the prince's quarters. “I'll come back later.” She placed a peck on her son's forehead before following Nami out of the room.

The two following hours, Luffy had to concentrate on learning new words. They seemed so beautiful when Vivi elegantly said then, but when he did, it came out as weird gibberish even he couldn't understand. He didn't like learning complicated sentences and different kind of bows, but he liked seeing the older woman, whom he soon considered as the nearest thing he had to a friend, perform those delicate acts. That may have been the only reason he decided that he liked the lesson.

Instead of Rouge, however, it was Nami who came back once the lesson was finished. She was holding a rolled paper, which the prince guessed was a letter, but as she hid it in her sleeves, he understood it was not meant for him. He shrugged it off, happy to see the orange-haired girl again, yet secretly hoping she didn't come back to make him read other books. Those two lessons one right after the other completely burned out his energy and ability to concentrate. Not having had breakfast before all that didn't help, and now he was extremely hungry. That's why, when he was a young boy slightly older than him holding a plate full of food following the scribe in his study, he practically jumped on it, devouring every bits of food he could get. Nami laughed out loud at his behaviour. She was used to it, after all, and no matter how many times she told him to slow down, he never listened. Vivi, on the other hand, had her eyebrows knitted together and a frown on her face; she still had a lot to teach the heir it seemed.

“Follow me, Luffy, I've got something to show you.” Nami said as she walked out of the boy's quarters. The scribe silently lead him through endless hallways and turning stairs which made the big maze that was the castle, holding the prince's hand in fear of loosing him in the crowd of visiting nobles, servants and patrolling soldiers. When they stepped out of a small door on the side of the castle, Luffy couldn't help but rejoice. Ever since he had woken up here, he had only went outside a few times. Rouge had brought him out to play hours before the sun rose. The only people up and moving at this time were a dozen of guards switching shifts with others either at the gate, the wall or the towers. This time, however, was something completely different. The castle's yard, which was delimited by an enormous grey stone wall with a few towers her and there, was overflowing with activity. There were a lot more people inside the protective wall than he had imagined. Both child and woman passed by the training grounds, the boy watching intently as the grown-up men swinged wooden swords at each other. Luffy looked all around, not caring where they were headed, and spotted two giant metal doors, seemingly painted in a dark grey, wide open. People; solders, noble, peasants, lads, servants, etc. They all passed in and out of the castle yard's entrance, each of them being intensively watched by the guards, who let the people they knew worked here enter with a warm greeting and interrupting and questioning those they didn't recognize, asking proof they were allowed in.

They made a turn to the left and stumbled in a beautifully kept garden. There was an elegant basin in the middle, an angel's stone statue occupying its centre. White painted wooden benches stood on the side of the numerous paths made of rocks. Although some of them were withered because of the temperature getting colder each day, the flowers making most of the garden were harmonized in their colours. To the prince's childish eyes, they practically looked like a rainbow. A man was trimming a tree sticking out of the scenery with its reddening leaves, highly contrasting with the greyish blue of the autumn sky. Looking up, Luffy's gaze lingered on an eagle hovering in circle above his head, and for a moment he wondered what it felt like to be up there. He wondered how different the sight could be from so high in the air.

They slowly made their way through a vast earthy terrain and finally reached a large and long wooden building. It seemed to have two floors, and the front held two big wooden doors large enough to let at least two bears side by side enter without even touching the frame. They were wide open and Luffy could see a few lads working inside. There were some kind of knocking sounds and different kinds of animal's voices, but he couldn't recognize them.

When they entered, a tall and slim woman came to meet them, her ebony hair floating behind her in her fast and confident walk toward the pair. The scribe and the mysterious woman shared a silent greeting, nodding to each other, then Nami slipped the rolled up letter to the apparently older female. The young heir stared as her sapphire eyes moved left to right and back, carefully reading what was written. When suddenly her gaze dropped to him, Luffy instantly froze, uncomfortable with the cold and unfeeling eyes that seemed to judge him. Then, as soon as it came, the glare melt into one of understanding and gentleness, her mouth flashing him a warm smile. The boy felt a little drawn to her and shyly smiled back.

“So you're the one...” She mumbled to herself, her voice lost in the cacophony of animals all around them. She looked back at Nami, returning the rolled up letter, then her attention was back to the child. “It's nice meeting you in the flesh, Luffy. My name is Nico Robin. It looks like I've been assigned to show you a few things. Do you mind following me?” She held her hand out, patiently waiting while the heir seemed to be weighing the consequences. When he finally deposed his tiny hand in her soft one, she petted his head in a silent reward.

A few minutes later, Luffy was staring in awe at the noble animal in front of him. He had seen them from afar, gazing out of the open window of Rouge's living room, but seeing one of them up close was definitely something else. It was high, its head standing proudly way over his and Robin's own. Its white fur looked silky; healthy and well taken care of. Its legs were a lot more wide, tall and intimidating than the boy's, and for a while he was a bit scared of the beast in front of him. However, looking at those deep black eyes, he was reminded of the night's darkness, but along with it the night's calmness. Then the beast became a gentle beauty.

“Impressive, isn't it?” Luffy could only nod, captivated with the animal. “This horse is one of my best. He is calm, patient and a fast learner. He is the King's favourite too. However, we will start with one more of your calibre, Luffy.” The teacher brought him to another stall, where the prince was met with a much smaller horse with dark brown fur. It's hazel eyes dropped on him, taking in his small form with gentleness. “I present to you the oldest of my few ponies, Chestnut. We will take your class real easy today. You will help me take care of him while I show you some things I hope you will remember. Shall we get started?” She was a star of excitement in the child's grey orbs when he looked at her with wonder, nodding slowly as if dazed by everything he'd just seen.

* * *

“So this child is your son...” The man said as he looked at the boy from afar. His thoughtful expression fell when he saw the boy's face. Sorrow filled his being and was clear in his voice when he talked again. “He looked a lot like him... except he doesn't have my sister's freckles.” The King smiled at this, remembering when he had said the almost same thing years before. The intimidating suddenly turned to face Roger, seriousness deep in his traits as he put his large hands heavily on his sister's husband's shoulders. “Are you sure about this, Roger?” The man in question continued watching Luffy ride on a pony led by none other than his best equestrian master. The child was laughing loudly, holding the animal's hair tightly while it ran at a moderate speed.

“Yeah, I'm sure, Teach.” In response, the landlord dropped his hands to his sides and turned back to the heir.

“This is going to be hard, Roger... and it's going to hurt.” He stole a unnoticed side glance to the King before adding. “A lot.”

“Nah,” his mouth tore into a wide toothy smile, almost mocking his companion, 2you don't understand Teach. This is a second chance. I can't be happier.” He broke out laughing and it was able to bring the other man's lips curving upward a bit.

* * *

“Boo!” Luffy jumped ten feet in the air, dropping the wooden tool he was using to brush Chestnut's fur. He looked around to see a big man with a long thick black moustache leaning in the stall opening. The boy looked at him in shock, bit it quickly disappeared into a joyful expression.

“Roger!” He exclaimed as he ran to him, his arms wide to hug his father, completely forgetting his task. Robin only smiled at the sight, taking the brush from the ground and continuing Luffy's job.

“Nic,” the King started, an amused glitter in his eyes, “you shouldn't spoil him too much.” Nico Robin was considered as the stricter equestrian master of the whole kingdom. The lads working for her were expected to obey her and follow her ways of handling the animals and if they did not, she wouldn't be scared to give the necessary punishments to them. Some even said she enjoyed it.

“Look who's talking.” She responded with a light chuckle. Roger stopped spinning the prince around, but still held him up as if caught in the act, then gently put his son down.

“Looks like you've finished giving him his first lesson.” He was still crouching, his trademark grin still on as he petted the boy's head affectionately. “You did a good job with softening her stone heart, Luffy.” The prince titled his head in confusion, but was ignored as Roger stood back up and faced the sapphire-eyed woman. “I'm stealing him, Nic!” He admitted before as he walked away from the stalls, Luffy on his heels.

Father and son were walking happily in the castle's hallways when a loud growling was heard. They both looked at their belly, only now realizing it was noon, and noon meant food. Roger brought the heir to Rouge's quarters where they ate together with the Queen and once finished all three of them left the room at the same time. At some point, the blonde was separated from her husband, but had stayed with her son to bring him to his next class.

That's how the young prince found himself in front of a tall slim man in a white yellow-stripped elegant suit. The older man was supposed to teach him how to dance, but Luffy did not want to approach him. He was weird. Even with his smile and his hands in his pockets, he was scary. And the heir didn't approach scary men. Rouge pushed him a little, encouraging him to take a step forward, but the boy ignored it. He would not approach a scary man. Even while his mother was talking softly in his ear to calm him, his fear wouldn't go away. It was a sickly bubbling sensation in his stomach that was urging his legs to back off, to run away. He didn't like it at all. Rouge mentally sighed, habing come up with a last minute decision.

The next three hours were spent with Rouge teaching her son what Kizaru, the dance teacher she had chosen weeks ago, showed her. She took three hours of her precious time to be a child's partner in a discipline she knew the boy had to learn. She sacrificed three hours for the prince, but she knew it was necessary. Luffy couldn't live like this forever. She had to do something to erase the boy's fear of men, and three simple hours felt like pebbles compared to the mountain-high of time she knew she'd have to spend to help the boy overcome his insecurity. Yes, it was not fear, it was insecurity, she realized. Luffy did not trust men, and she felt like it was her duty to teach the heir how to trust again. How to trust the men company, without trusting the men intentions. Because life at the court were mainly about lies, secrets and back stabs. You had to stay polite and noble, yet to stay wary of the bad thoughts. This was something else she ha to teach the boy; cautiousness.

During the last hour of the dance class, she noticed Luffy's ability to focus diminish steadily. He was getting easily distracted by every sound and even when he was listening he didn't seem to register the information. He had stopped eyeing Borselini, and although she couldn't help hoping, she wondered if it was because he had gotten used to his presence or simply because he was too tired to pay attention to him anymore. When she had led him out after saying goodbye and giving her thanks to Kizaru, the young prince had yawned loudly and tried to scrub the flurry tiredness away from his eyes. Now the Queen almost felt bad to bring him to another two hours of lessons. With all the focus he had to maintain during the whole day and the excitement of seeing and doing new things, plus the stress of meeting new people and talking to them, it was no wonder he was so exhausted. She wanted to give him the next day off lessons, but she couldn't. It was necessary and had to be done. Luffy would have to get used to it.

Buggy was no noble. Nope. He did not belong to that group of people. He never really liked them, but he liked their wealth. That's the only reason he became a minstrel. Yes, he was gifted with music, but he always thought he was a better storyteller than a musician. Living as a minstrel allowed him to travel freely from a land to another within the kingdom and since he was so skilled he was very often invited to stay a few days in a noble's estate, getting high quality food and sleep in exchange of his awesome tales. However, being a minstrel in itself didn't bring a high income, and he was never satisfied. That's partly why he had started to use his job as an excuse to roam freely in the rich mansion's hallways. The other part was simply because he was greedy. He would steal dukes and earls and get a fair amount of money.

When he was invited by the King himself to perform at the Harvest Festival, he thought things couldn't get any better. To his storytelling during that week, he had added a bit of his personal music. After the third night, he tried to get his hand on the royal treasure, but as he was about to enter a random room, he was interrupted by a woman. The first thing he thought was that he was done for. What's more, to his surprise and doom, the woman seemed to be none other than the Queen herself. Her auburn eyes went right through his being, and if looks could kill, he felt like he would have been murdered without a second thought. However, he was not punished. He was not. She only asked him if he wanted to be a music teacher, and he instantly approved. That's when he vowed to himself he would never try to steal again, forever grateful to the second chance he had been given. It was the only way to repent for his sins and to repay such kindness.

That's what he forced himself to remember as he watched the child laugh with glee at his nose that resembled – no, it was not a clown's and it not look like one at all. He wanted to yell exactly this at the boy, but the gentle auburn eyes were in the room, watching his every move. Yes, teaching this child how to produce sound with an instrument was the only way he could repay the Queen's kindness. However, e did not think such an act would prove to be this difficult. The prince wasn't paying attention at what he was saying, having fun experimenting new weird sounds with the simple flute he had given him. Also, whenever he demanded him to look at him when he talked, the heir would always either burst out laughing or trying to grip at his nose, an act he definitely didn't appreciate. But he sucked it up, because that was the only thing he could do, being watched by the child's mother.

Surely it was no second chance. This was his real punishment...

* * *

Rouge had helped Luffy, who was practically about to faint from exhaustion, into pajama and was now putting him to bed. As soon as his head touched the pillow, his eyes fluttered closed and his breathing evened out. The Queen delicately brushed his dark bangs with her long fingers, contemplating the boy's peaceful face. She was certain now that he would sleep throughout all of the night and hoped for a complete uneventful sleep. She too was tired from her day, and although it wasn't her whole life that completely changed in a single day, having a son again and having to take care of him was draining her energy. She was about to leave, but just like the night before, a tiny hand held out to her and a whisper asked if she could stay. She sat back down, continuing on petting Luffy's head lovingly.

“Thank you, mommy.” The boy breathed as he completely fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think of that? Better, isn't it? And I think the beta started here, too!


	6. Chapter 6

 The boy sat on a stool in the kitchen, watching the old blonde work, giving orders to the other cooks. Most of them were woman, and at least half were also working as servants for the elites. Those “nobles” were the worst. They were selfish, more greedy than greed itself. They didn't even care for those who served them, only ordering them around and making them do useless errands outside the castle as if to tell them they didn't belong inside the walls. They considered themselves high and mighty only because they were living in the castle in private rooms. It's only because one of their ancestors did an honourable or heroic deed that they were seen as nobles. The name of their family was registered in the rich class which is why the King couldn't throw them out, and were allowed to stay because what is written is absolute. The only reason the King could banish them from here was if he punished them for any dishonourable acts. Treason were dealt with death sentences, but other than that, for example stealing, insulting and disregarding the rules, the King could do what he deemed fit. And the boy honestly hoped for a kingdom banish. Sadly, that kind of thing rarely happened, so the number of elites practically never diminished, much to the blonde's disappointment. The young servant hated them and wanted nothing to do with them, but it was his job and stuck up with it.

With a light a touch on his shoulder seeking for his attention, the servant turned around in his seat to meet with an orange-haired woman looking down at him. He had seen her often in the castle, roaming the hallways or giving lessons in the common hall. He knew she was a great scribe, and seeing the renowned Bellemère seeking a conversation with him should have been surprising. However, the young boy was not, because it was not the first time Nami wanted to talk to him. And he never liked it when she did.

“Sanji, walk with me.” She said no more, and, honestly, her smile and joyous tone left him sceptical. The scribe usually came to fetch him when he had been caught making pranks to nobles he didn't like. It seemed like the Queen always knew when he did something bad. She always scolded him, sending Bellemère to fetch him. Once, he had deliberately put a worm inside a noble's meal. Nami had come to the kitchen, and, to his horror, she said she would have to fire Zeff for his poor work and bad supervision of his employees. Sanji had fear Zeff would loose his job because of his low prank he pulled without thinking of the consequences, so he rapidly confessed he was the one who di it and asked to be punished instead of the old man. The scribe had smiled sweetly and admitted they already knew. She explained it was all an act to make him spit the truth out, then promised he wouldn't get scolded or punished if he apologized to the noble. He didn't. He had preferred to keep his mouth shut and receive punishment rather than bowing his head to a scum he had served plenty of times and knew would punish him even if he apologized. And the boy knew the Queen's punishment were more tolerable than the shithead's. Still, he rarely pulled any pranks since then, and when he did it was only toward other servants and maids.

It left him a bit confused to be fetched that day. He hadn't done anything bad since a month ago, so he was perplexed. If it was for a scolding, then Nami seemed awfully happy for it, which was unusual, but he had no idea what else it could be about.

Before entering the elegant living room, Sanji bowed his head to the Queen, who was sitting comfortably on the couch while working on her embroidery, in the way only servants bowed. She set her work aside and motioned the blond-haired boy to take a seat. He did so hesitantly, and even as he sat on the soft velvet, his body was stiff with the anticipation of a scolding. He kept his back straight and his hands clamped together between his knees in order to hide the trembling even as Laura placed a cup of warm tea in front of him.

“Don't be so nervous, Sanji,” Rouge said between two sips of her tea. She flashed him a brief reassuring smile rapidly morphing into one of amusement when the next words left her mouth. “I won't eat you. Not today,” she teased. Becoming serious as fast as she had become humorous, her thin fingers deposed the cup on the table while her eyes burned holes in the kid shifting his weight nervously on the couch. “I have a new job for you. I hope you will listen with care to my instructions and I highly hope you will accept my offer.” Sanji mentally sighed; this meant he didn't have a choice in the matter. “Starting two weeks from now, you will serve under a new noble. The job won't be any different from what always did. Bring breakfast, prepare the clothes, help with the bath, clean the room, and, you know, everything else. However, you will also have to accompany him wherever he goes to make sure he has everything he needs and, of course, if he asks you anything, you obey.” He really had no choice in the matter. The Queen had already decided everything for him like usual, and she'd make him do all she wanted, whether he liked it or not. But he really didn't want to do it. He hated nobles. A lot. If she could give him a basic lame work such as clean the whole kitchen, cut vegetables or even work as a lad at the stables, he'd be the happiest man in the kingdom.

Seeing the gloomy face the blond servant made, Rouge stood from her side of the low table only to crouch in front of the boy. A gentle hand on his shoulder brought Sanji back from his thoughts. “Don't worry,” she added suddenly with a low comforting voice, “I'm sure you'll get along fine. My son is still young and holds no malice.” The hand duplicated, but instead of feeling trapped with both his shoulders in a tight grip, the young servant felt as if the Queen only wanted to transfer her feelings more easily to him. “But, please, even if you don't get along with him, _please_ understand that I need you to stay with the prince. I have lots of work to do, and so do Laura and Nami, and I fear to make him feel rejected, even abandoned,” she continued, her voice dropping to a whisper at the last word. Sanji took a bit of time to analyze all the information he had been given, then his eyes grew to the size of two tennis balls. He had been assigned to serve the prince. It was a job even more important than serving a landlord, and the income was as big as the importance of the work.

Money was important for the blond boy. As long as he could remember, he had been an orphan working at a farm neat the border. He was sent to care for the crops as soon as the sun rose, and in exchange for his work, he was fed and given a cheap mattress in the upper floor of the stables to sleep the night. He couldn't remember much, but he knew that the last year was rough, really rough. It was almost always raining and the crops, having too much water and not even sun, either died before being ready for harvest or were spoiled before they could sell it. The first month of summer, he was fed once a day, but then they completely stopped. They stopped giving him anything to eat and stopped giving him anything to do. They had abandoned him. He left. For the better or for the worst. It was best to move and try to find a better home or die trying rather than die curled up in despair. But he was starving and on verge of death, he stopped walking. In the middle of an almost unused road, an old man had found him, and took him with him, and fed him, and healed him. For this, he used all his economy. Economy he started to one day buy his own building in the middle of town and open his own orphanage/tavern. It was a great idea. He wanted to have an orphanage and help the children get a fine job. He didn't want to sell them like they all do. But he needed money to care for them so, as a cook, he thought of opening a tavern in which the employees would be the eldest of the kids, and which income would serve to care for them. But the money to start this project had all been spent on food, clothes and doctor for the young servant. Sanji wanted to repay him. At five years old, he started running small errands for the maids and nobles. At six, he started working as a servant fr the elites of the castle. All the money he received, he gave Zeff. The old man had always refused it all, but Sanji always slipped his money in the box the old man kept hidden in his room.

For that, he would do anything. He would serve any elite who offered him money. So now, even if the job was not only to serve, but also to follow the prince, one he already considered as the greediest, most selfish and most despicable noble of the kingdom, he would do it. That's how it always seemed to him, and so far it was proved; the highest title a noble had, the more he acted like a scum.

Right after his meeting with the Queen, Sanji had to follow Nami to meet the prince. The scribe took the opportunity of having one more pair of arm and made the blonde bring Luffy's breakfast. Like she had expected, the boy jumped on the food at the very sight of it. Managing a muffled “thank you” to the servant, he shoved a freshly baked bread into his already full mouth. Still, the cold stare Sanji was giving him since the beginning didn't go away, sharply showing his feeling of disgust at the other child's behaviour. So when the prince was in private, he ate like a pig not even caring that all the food the plate held could feed around twenty starving children dying at the side of an old unused road. With the quantity he brought, he knew there would be plenty of leftovers left, and the blonde felt sick just at that thought. He shot Luffy a murderous glare, both angry at his bad eating habits and manners and at his obliviousness, or more accurately, at his discarding ignorance of his presence. Seeing the kid slow down after only a quarter of the meal had been inhaled, he knew the prince would waste to rest. Sadly, Sanji didn't stay long enough to find out he was wrong.

This went on for two weeks. The servant brought breakfast to the heir every morning, always standing behind Bellemère, and always leaving before bursting out with anger, telling at the young noble for his insouciance, without ever seeing the prince finish up his whole meal. He never came back to take the plate back to the kitchen; Nami clearly told him someone else was taking care of it. Honestly, he was glad he didn't get to see the mountain of half-eaten food left on it with his own eyes. Such a tiny body could only inhale so much food, and compared to what the boy was brought, it had to be a mediocre amount.

Then came the day the blonde dreaded for the most. He got up long before the sun rose, took a little time to dress himself conveniently – which means simple brown clothing, now a bit too small for his growing body, with a pale blue-tainted velvet ribbon decorated with a small delicate embroidery of an eagle's silhouette made of golden threads wrapped tightly around hi thing neck – rapidly combed his short dishevelled hair, then headed for the heir's quarters.

Rayleigh was standing on guard, like every night, and, as instructed, let the blond servant enter silently through the only door. The kid tip-toed through the study room, fearing only a tiny bit to be serving a morning grumpy fat head. Once in the bedroom, as silent as sleeping waters, he chose the prince's outfit from the wooden chest and spread it at the base of the bed. Although he was used to the routine, he was still a bit nervous to mess something up. Shivering a bit because of the morning coldness, the servant revived the fire of the bedroom, knowing the prince would appreciate a bit of heat in the autumn morning, then proceeded with starting a new one in the study. He left the heir's quarters only to come back with buckets of water he heated over the fire for the bath. Seeing the night sky starting to become clearer, Sanji gently shook the boy awake. His grey eyes fluttered open, still half-lidded with the remnant of his dreams, before becoming clouded with confusion.

“Who're you?” Luffy slurred with sleepiness, his small childish voice breaking the silence of the room.

“I'm your new servant, sir,” Sanji explained briefly. Had the boy not been informed of this?

“Sir?” The prince cocked an eyebrow with further confusion. Yes, Sanji too felt it was weird calling a child two years younger than him with this title. However, names were also a noble's pride, and only those of equal or higher status could address them by their names. Otherwise, like in this case, you had to call the superior by his title. “Not Sir.” He didn't want to be called sir? He really wanted to show his importance by making everyone call him “your majesty” or something like that? With these dark thoughts, Sanji unconsciously sent the boy a cold glare. It went completely unnoticed as the prince's lips curved upward as he elaborated. “My name is not Sir. It's Luffy. What's yours?” Oblivious to the bewilderment creeping up the older boy's face, the heir got out of bed and headed for the bath. He tested the temperature and, finding out it was perfect, turned back to the blonde as if to show he was still expecting an answer.

“Sanji, sir.”

“Not Sir,” he reminded as he stripped from his night dress. “Luffy.” The servant's eyes darted away from the boy's naked body to the white ceiling, gulping nervously at the thought of breaking one of the most important rule of nobility.

“Lu-Luffy...” he whispered, not quite sure if he really should do this. He cleared his throat as the prince climbed into the bathtub. “I'll be right back.” He left without another word.

He came back a few minutes later only to find Luffy struggling with the ribbons at his shirt's long sleeves. Sanji carefully placed the plate of food on the study desk before heading in front of the prince. Without saying anything, he took the boy's right arm and delicately tied the ribbons in fashionable loops. He did the same with the other arm, then proceeded with tying the black leather boots tightly in place and buckling the same leather belt around the prince's waist. The child let the blonde take care of everything, not a word of protest coming from his mouth. His hair was combed, and played with a bit as Sanji tried to tie them into a ponytail only to fail miserably because the ebony strands were not long enough yet. When Luffy jumped on his breakfast, the servant left yet again to meet with Alabasta's princess.

When he came back, he was faced with a big revelation. The plate he had brought was now completely empty. Not a single crumb of bread was left behind, and somehow that made the young servant really happy. As Luffy began his lesson, Sanji brought the empty plate back down and came back to do a bit of cleaning. When he felt everything had been done, he simply sat on the couch and watched the prince repeat clumsily what the blue-haired woman tried to teach him. Even though it was basic knowledge for every noble, it seemed like the heir was struggling to learn and to understand what all these formalities were for. The blonde noticed the boy's concentration was really low and it looked like as time passed it was becoming harder and harder for the child to focus on what was being said and taught.

It was the same with every lesson. And it was the same for every day. Although it took a lot of time and effort, Luffy did made some progress. Each day, he learned something and was able to remember it the next day, even if it was only a single small information, he was making progress. The same couldn't be said with his ability to dress himself. Sanji always had to tie the ribbons and the boots and comb the boy's growing hair.

One morning, the prince insisted to accompany Sanji to the kitchen to fetch his breakfast. The servant complied, taking the demand as an order. When the old chef gave Luffy his plate, his smile dropped suddenly. The blonde feared his food did not please him, so he was highly surprised when the child beamed a huge toothy smile at him and told him to grab something to eat too. As soon as he recovered from his bewilderment, the older boy had to refuse the offer. Such high quality food were reserved for the nobles. As a servant, he had no right to consume anything of this category. But then the prince frowned, looking up straight into the blue eyes, and seemed to be on verge of tears.

“It's not fair! You have to eat too!” He explained while shoving his own plate into Sanji's arms, who took it more out of instinct than out of agreement. He just stood there, completely frozen by the thought that maybe, just maybe, the prince was different from the other nobles, that maybe he truly cared for the ones serving him unlike the elites. He watched the heir having a passionate conversation about food with Zeff, talking to the old chef like they were equals. Yes, Luffy truly was different from the other nobles.

That same night, both children came back to Luffy's quarters later than usual. Sanji, right after the prince's music class, showed him around the castle. Since the prince was still unknown to everyone, except his teachers, it went smoothly. They weren't interrupted by elites who desired to get on his good side, and the boy could talk with other servants freely without having to care about manners. Still, they got back late, really late, and Sanji decided he would prepare his master to bed right away. Luffy never really needed help to get into his nightdress, but his mother wanted the blonde to make sure he went to sleep at the right time. The child was still excited from his long cruise in the castle's hallways and rooms and it took a lot of energy out of the servant to make him shut his mouth and jump in bed. So, tired as he was and considering his own room was four floors up, when the heir asked him to stay for the night, he obliged.

He was dreaming something really peaceful when a sudden stab at his side woke him up. It took him a moment to remember the previous evening while he recognized the room to be Luffy's. The black-haired boy was sleeping beside him, and apart from the panting and the imaginary monster the prince was fighting, it was his pained expression that alerted Sanji that something was wrong. Luffy was having a bad dream – no – a terrible nightmare. His grey eyes snapped open at possibly the worst part of the events that had been playing in his mind. It startled the blonde a bit, then he practically jumped when the youngest turned around and hugged him like he'd do with a teddy bear; strongly and suffocating. His whole body was shaking and he was breathing so fast Sanji feared he was hyperventilating.

Swallowing nervously, the servant hesitantly wrapped his arms around his master's frail-looking body. He was relieved when Luffy's breathing slowed down into big gulps of air. His shoulders shook as he sobbed in the older boy's chest. When the heir stopped shaking, Sanji deemed it safe to think he was done crying.

“Luffy, are you alright now?” He whispered while rubbing slow circles on the boy's clothed back. In response, he heard a few sniffs, before a trembling voice spoke.

“I'm scared.” The words were simple and clear, easy to understand, but they were said with such emotion, truly scared, that Sanji was overwhelmed with pity. What kind of nightmare did it take to render a six years old child into such a state? The blonde did not know. He didn't get them often, and when he did, his heart was beating fast and he was sweating, but that's all. Still, Luffy needed his rest to face tomorrow's classes.

“Let's get back to sleep; it's late and I'm sure you're at least as tired as I am,” he murmured softly as a suggestion, delivering his thoughts to the boy. The only answer he got was a movement on his chest. The prince was shaking his head with conviction, refusing the blonde's proposal.

“I want to see Rouge,” he managed saying with a strained high-pitched voice. The servant didn't think it was a good idea; after all, the Queen was probably already asleep. He tried to communicate this fact with the sweetest tone he could utter, but again Luffy shook his head in disagreement. “I want to see Rouge,” he repeated. He won.

Sanji made his way to the Queen's door with a young heir clinging to him in his nightdress, hugging his waist. He had to admit, he was a bit scared. Having faced the long-haired blonde's anger plenty of times before, he didn't really felt like waking her up in the middle of the night. However, the pressure around his midsection was getting harder and more painful every second he hesitated, and he finally knocked on the door.

* * *

It was that way almost every night. The prince would ask Sanji to sleep with him, then he'd wake him up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare, and finally he'd demand to be brought to the Queen. Frankly, it was starting to get on the blondes' nerves. Both mother and servant didn't get much sleep, and both suffering from the same thing from the same cause, they eventually started to talk to each other in private to find a solution. However, no matter what they did, it had no effect whatsoever, perhaps except from bringing the two victims closer.

* * *

Sanji left the prince's quarters to get breakfast, as usual, while the younger boy yook his bath. When he came back, though, instead of walking in to see a clumsily dressed heir, he found a tiny child drying himself. That act in itself wasn't what stopped him dead in his track. No, what did were the numerous old scars on the pale skin of his chest and back. Individually, it was nowhere enough to surprise anyone. It was their number; they were everywhere! Sanji's mind couldn't process any thought but one, one his mouth spoke before he knew it himself.

“How did you get those?” Really, how? He couldn't think of anything capable of doing such damage. How many times did one had to fall in six short years to get so many scratches? Too many to be possible. Somehow, he wasn't surprised when Luffy didn't answer and started to silently shed tears. But the tears became sniffs, and the sniffs became sobs, and the sobs became cries. That's when the servant realized how much he had hurt the boy with that question. “I'm sorry, Luffy. I didn't mean to hurt you...” he tried, but the child continued on crying, not caring in the slightest that he was completely naked. He didn't care, because it _hurt too much_. And Sanji knew. He knew he had to do something. “Luffy,” he started, placing his hands on the prince's small shoulder, “stop crying. There's nothing to be sad or scared about.” No, that wasn't enough. “Look, I'm here!” He added, bringing an open palm to his chest and gaining the heir's attention. Yes, that's better. Listen. Just listen and don't think about the past. “Look, I have something to show you.” The boy quieted into sobs, getting interested. “This is something awesome. You'll like it.” The blond flashed a true genuine smile with the idea that was trotting in his head.

“Really?” The prince croaked between sniffs. He was interested and hopeful, but he clearly wasn't sure either to trust the older boy or not.

“Really! I promise! It's really awesome!” The boy's eyes lit up with hope and he hesitantly bit his lower lip before letting himself getting excited.

“Really?” He asked again, then added another question before getting answered. “Like _this_ awesome?” He grinned at the thought of it while he made a motion with both his arms to describe how much.

“Yeah, _this_ awesome!” Sanji copied Luffy's movement, confident the boy would like it.

“I want to see!” The child exclaimed, but frowned when the blonde slowly shook his head.

“I will show you on one condition. But don't worry, I know you can do it. It's simple, really. All I want you to do is sleep the whole night peacefully. Have good dreams, rest and just sleep the whole night. If you do, tomorrow morning I'll show you.” The servant hoped it would work out somehow. He knew one could not control the dreams you had, but he wanted to hope it could work.

And it did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendship between Luffy and Sanji is blooming... x3


	7. Chapter 7

_He couldn't see her face anymore. Did he simply forgot what she looked like? He knew, remembered, she had long golden hair, and he could still feel her warmth enveloping him with love._

Luffy woke up the next morning completely relaxed. As he took in his surrounding, the boy blinked the sleepiness away and the dream rapidly vanished as he came back to the real world. The room was dark, only lit a bit by the weak fire in the corner. He heard a bit of shuffling and noticed it was what woke him up. Although it was a lot earlier than usual, the boy felt more reposed that he'd ever been before. Sitting up in his bed, he could now see the sound came from Sanji looking through the wooden chest to find today's outfit. He turned around to put the clothes he'd chosen on the bed and his eyes widened a bit when he found the prince awake.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up yet...” He muttered before hurrying to revive the fire to make the room warmer. They were in the middle of autumn, and although they still had wonderfully warm days, the mornings and evenings were quite cold, proving they were nearing Winter very fast. He didn't want the child to get sick. As the boy laid back down in an attempt to go back to sleep, the blonde remembered the reason why he got up earlier that morning. “Luffy,” he called, a little bit of excitement present in his voice, “you have to get up.” He couldn't help but wonder what his reaction would be. The boy sat up again with an eyebrow raised, silently asking why he had to. Sanji chuckled at this, knowing the heir's brain always ran slower in the morning, then proceeded to the explanation.

As the servant told him about last night's events, Luffy remembered their promise and jumped out of bed with pure eagerness. He wanted to see the awesome thing now! He hurried to put his clothes on and writhed with impatience while he waited for Sanji to tie all the ribbons that annoyed him so much. He knew his mother would want him to take a bath before going to his classes, but at the moment, the bath could wait. The surprise his friend planned for him was much more important right now.

“I want to see it now,” he said again while the blonde laced his boots. The servant got up and dusted himself off then headed for the door.

“Follow me. It's a bit of a long walk...” he started as he looked at the stars shining in the youngster’s grey eyes, “but I'm sure you can do it.” With the determination he was showing, there was no doubt he'd do anything to see it.

Sanji led the way through the maze, and Luffy wondered how he ever could remember his way. The halls were the same; the same colours with the same doors and the same carpet and the same flowers as decoration and the same candles to light everything up in the early and late hours. He was quite glad to always be accompanied. After a while, though, the hallways were starting to get different. No flowers were visible, the walls and ground were dusty and unkempt, and Sanji had to bring a candle to fend the darkness away and move on to the destination. Eventually, they reached the bottom of stone stairs that raised in a circular fashion. Luffy couldn't see the top, but it only served to excite him further.

Both children climbed the stairs in silence. Sanji was lost in his thoughts while Luffy only tried to imagine what could wait for him up there. They stopped a few times for several minutes to catch their breath, and when they reached the top of the stairs, Luffy's legs almost gave in out of exhaustion. He stood in a single wooden door, eager to push it open and see the surprise. He could feel cold air seep in through the bottom of it and into his clothes, sending a small shiver up his spine. The servant grabbed one of his shoulders and pushed him forward as an encouragement to open it. He grabbed the handle, turned and pushed, before heading outdoor.

It was amazing. The mountains were high and proud, standing in a never-ending night sky prickled with lots and lots of shining stars. The wind was blowing harder and was colder than it was it the castle's yard, and as the prince deeply breathed in, he could smell the salt of the sea a lot more than ever. And he liked it. It ruffled his black hair lightly, as if to welcome him in this wonderful place. Sanji looked at the boy and couldn't keep the small smile away from his lips that automatically came when he saw the bewildered look on the child's face. His grey eyes were big with wonder and his mouth slightly agape. He let him admire this view before walking to him to the middle. Turning back to the heir, he motioned him to follow him to the middle, which he did with slow steps, too amazed to go any faster. When he reached him, Luffy silently looked at where he was standing and he could easily tell they were on top of a tower. However, it was not any tower, it was the highest one, in the middle of the whole castle's territory. It stood tall and proud, and the prince felt extremely good up here. He had this feeling... an unknown feeling he couldn't put his fingers on.

“That's not all, Luffy,” Sanji whispered, almost scared of breaking the moment that seemed so magical from the youngster’s point of view. He lifted his arm and pointed behind Luffy, silently telling him to turn around. When he did, he almost fell to his knees at the sight before him, surprising his servant with his reaction. He stopped breathing as he took in the night sky slowly and beautifully lighting up as the sun progressively rose from its hide-out. Not only were the mixed colour highly easy to get addicted to, but the reflection of it on the calmly moving sea water was mesmerizing. The prince could see the ocean and the sky stretch eternally, and that's when he realized how big the world really was. How big, how different it was, and that's when he also realized he didn't know a thing about it. And looking at the horizon, he started to dream. Dream about things that could be, things he could see, things he could learn about, things far away. And he wanted to explore everything he could. He could see the sea making love to the sky, and he wondered if it ever touched each other at one point to form a wall, and he wondered if he ever reached that would, whether it would mean he had seen everything or if something was hidden behind it. Maybe something bigger. And he wondered, if it never touched, whether or not it really went on forever. How many places would he have to visit before reaching the end if there was one? How many things would he see before then? How much time would it take him to learn everything there was out there? How many things would he experience in one lifetime? How many lives would he need to know everything? And he started to dream. He dreamed about adventures as his eyes lingered on the rising sun. H dreamed, and again he felt that unknown feeling, that strange thing he couldn't get his fingers on, that warmth and lightness that enveloped his being. He was a bird, an eagle, flying in slow circles not too far above his head, and he felt like it. Up there, seeing the whole town, the harbour, the boats, the small dots that were people walking in the streets as the opened their shop for the day and prepared their stands on the main street, feeling the wind gently fingering his skin, smelling the salty odour of the sea. He felt... free. This was... freedom.

* * *

Today was a good day. No cloud in sight, sunny and warm; the perfect autumn day. The leaves fell from the trees when a gentle chilly breeze passed through them, and the colours they had were bringing some kind of wonder to the world. But that's not the only reason he thought it was such a good day. No. Today, he would spend the afternoon at his little sister's home and meet his nephew for the first time. The boy seemed to be a good kid, a happy one, with a lot of energy that he could transfer to the people around him. Truly a wonderful child. The man couldn't wait to meet him; he was sure they'd get along very well and become friends in no time.

That's why, at the moment, he was overly shocked. He couldn't believe it. Roger had brought him to the Queen's quarters, and there the boy, who was previously playing a simple card game with his mother, stopped everything he was doing to glare at him wearily. That alone wasn't much a surprise. After all, the kid had never met him, and his appearance had been sudden. He was a complete strange for the moment, and the man didn't mind the grey eyes looking at him intensively.

Alerted by the wound of the door closing behind her husband and her brother, Rouge raised her gaze from the game to look at them and welcome them with a warm smile. She truly was beautiful. If it weren't for the fact that they were family, he would have definitely fallen for her.

It is such a pleasure to see you, brother,” she said first, walking up to him before wrapping her arms around him in a friendly hug. “I thought you were too busy to visit, so what brings you here?” He had come unannounced and wasn't surprise of his sister's ignorance.

“Doflammingo's heir, who recently became the new lord of the Feather Land, asked for my advice and assistance on how to deal with the management of the territory he inherited from his deceased father. Since I had to pass through the Kapital to get there, I thought I'd stop for a short visit. I hope I'm not too much of an inconvenience,” he explained after kissing Rouge's cheeks in his usual greeting.

“Don't worry about that, _old man,_ ” the King teased, referring to the news he got about that Landlord's daughter having given birth to her first child. Teach was now a grandfather, and although he felt happy of being one, he also felt that much older. He laughed loudly at the teasing, finding nothing to say as a comeback, but stopped abruptly when he saw the prince flinch.

Luffy didn't dare to move. He didn't like the man, like many other men in the castle, but this one was big and his eyes were threatening. He was relieved when his mother came to picked him up, and he instinctively wrapped his tiny arms around her neck as if to make sure he was now in security.

“Luffy, this is the Hibiscus Landlord, my big brother. He's your uncle; uncle Teach,” the Queen presented while the black-bearded man walked up to them. As soon as he took his third step toward them, the prince's heart started beating fast and his breath got trapped in his chest with anticipation. Anticipation of something bad. Because the man who was now smiling down at him only a meter away in front of him, screamed _danger_. He saw his big hand raise up from the man's side, and suddenly it became a threat, a weapon, something bad that could hurt.

Luffy instinctively closed his eyes and hung at his mother for dear life. He was scared. He didn't know what the man would do. He never knew. But it always hurt. He felt the hand come nearer and nearer, seeming to be in slow motion, and every millimetre it made toward him made his heart beat faster, his breaths become pants and his arms clutch the neck tighter. He felt the hand – no – the danger it held, hovering right above his head, and the boy couldn't tolerate it anymore. His instincts pushed him to scream, and he did, louder than he ever had, with a high-pitched voice that pierced through the adults' ears, and felt the hand retract instantly. However, it wasn't enough. The man was still in the room, the bad thing was still there and could still hurt him. He wanted to run, and the arms holding him, the gentle, loving, and caring arms, were now acting as bars, a prison that made him vulnerable. He had to run, free himself so he could either use his legs to get away or his arms to defend himself.

Teach had brought both his hands to his ears as soon as the loud scream left his nephew's lips to protect them. The hurtful sound was soon replaced by sobs and cries, leaving him stunned. What kind of reaction was that? Sure, he was a stranger, but he told him he was family, and he smiled at him, was gentle and did not move harshly to make sure to not surprise him. He didn't understand what he did to make him this scared.

The prince started the squirm in Rouge's arms, as if trying to run away, and the Landlord could do nothing but watch perplexedly as the child pushed himself away with his small hands.

“I am so sorry about that, brother,” the Queen apologized as she held Luffy tighter. She turned around and walked away a bit, holding her son's head firmly on her shoulder and doing her best to ignore the flailing arms. She made shushing sounds, cradling the boy in her arms while pacing slowly from the couch to the window and back to the couch.

Roger put a heavy hand on his brother-in-law's shoulder, gaining his attention. The black-bearded man looked back at the King with questioning eyes, then was answered with a sad apologetic smile.

“Really, Teach, we're sorry about that. It's best to leave him alone for now. He will calm down after a while.” The hand pulled a bit, silently ordering the Landlord to back away and exit the Queen's quarters.

* * *

The prince's eyes were puffy and red, showing he had yet again have a crisis. He had heard the boy's scream and cries and hour earlier, and he knew it took all that time for the Queen to calm him down from the sweet voice that came from the other side of the door. Now, however, the blonde had left her son to Roger's care, and he couldn't help but smirk as he saw the younger man play with the child and bring a smile back on his lips. The King was giving him a piggyback ride, jogging a bit in his own huge living room he rarely used. Now, the heir was laughing loudly, and except for his still red eyes, there was no proof at all of the previous event.

“Higher!” The boy exclaimed gleefully. Not even a second after, Roger was holding him up and turning in circles. Rayleigh was surprised by his own chuckle. Honestly, that pair was too adorable. No one would be able to keep a scowl on their face with such a scene playing in front of their eyes. The swordsman stared intently at the King's face, seeing all the joy that had disappeared a few years ago. Luffy definitely was the best gift the royal couple could have. And he was the one who had to protect this happiness. Something flashed on Roger's face, and excitement suddenly burned in his eyes. The guard mentally sighed, knowing that whatever idea he had just come up with wasn't going to end well. As if hearing his thoughts, the moustached man flashed him a big toothy grin, and his son looked at him questioningly at his sudden stop.

“Luffy,” Roger started, a mischievous grin plastered on his face, “do you want to accompany me and Ray on a horse back ride?” The boy widened his eyes, as if he never imagined such a thing.

“Adventure?” He asked with hope, wondering if he would finally be able to explore the world behind the gate. He was answered with a firm nod, and the child's face lit up even more, if that was possible.

Rayleigh couldn't totally agree with this idea. Surely Rouge would never allow it, but when he tried to reason with the King, he was answered with a confident: “If she doesn't know, there won't be any problem!” The guard knew it was an order to keep silent, and he had no choice but to follow him. Still, what really pushed him to accompany the King in this absurd idea was not the order, but the excitement clearly showing in the prince's eyes with anticipation of an adventure.

And the strong wish to protect their smiles.

* * *

 Silver Wind was the one perfect horse of the castle's stables, even if she had been a mistake. While the Master had been away to visit a landlord's sick warhorse, one of the stable lads had taken the best Friesan of the grounds with the young Queen's Jennet on the field and left them on their own while he went back to take care of others. What he had overlooked, however, was the fact that the Queen's grey mare was in heat...

Nico Robin had had other plans for the small Spanish horse; there was a male Jennet who had an allure that would make any woman comfortable riding him, and the equestrian master had hoped their foal or filly would inherit it and its mother's patient kindness. So she was understandably furious when she found out, and the lad strongly regretted what he had done. She knew the baby would be a bastard and its value would reflect that fact. She had planned to sell it for a cheap price to a random soldier, but when Roger had seen the white filly in the mother's pen, he wanted to keep it.

It had been a very good choice. As the filly grew up to be a mare, Nico Robin found great qualities in the horse. She looked nothing like a bastard. She had her father's physical traits; you could almost mistake her for a purebred Friesan with her noble aura, tick neck, strong muscles and superior height. However, all Friesans are black; she was white. After having worked with the mare for a long while, training her to be a war horse, Robin discovered that Silver Wind also had her mother's psychological traits. She was calm, patient, and learned fairly fast. She also proved to be an enjoyable ride for short walks through towns and the wilderness. The King once took her out to go hunting with Sir Silvers, and reported that the mare was quite the tracker _._

Still, none of that mattered for the young boy seated securely between the horse's neck and his adopted father. Instead, he was taking in his surroundings of life painted in the warm colours of autumn. Once in a while, a few leaves would fall out of trees, slowly landing on the earthly tracks on the ground. The sun was beaming down on them although it was close to setting, projecting a mix of green, pink and purple in the cloudless sky. Mesmerized by the scene, the boy stared right from left with big grey eyes filled with wonder. This was a part of the world; one of those many places Luffy desired to see, to discover. He was never going to let all of this slide from his mind. Never.

It was the first time the prince actually stepped out of the castle's grounds, and Roger's heart couldn't help but warm up as the boy looked all around with amazement. Amazement and joy. Whatever nightmare that had haunted him the night before couldn't reach him in this glorious moment. The breeze was a bit cold, but Luffy was wrapped in a light jacket. Rayeigh was following the royal father and son from a few metres behind, a tiny smile gracing his lips. The King knew his guard didn't fully approve of this little excursion, but it wasn't like they were going very far... After all, Luffy had to get to bed early.

A small animal jumped from the bushes so suddenly that the boy squeaked in surprise, and squirmed in his seat for the next thirty seconds before settling down again. His father wondered if Luffy was still afraid or was fighting the urge to chase after the squirrel to use as a plush toy. After the unease was over, the child turned around in his seat and stared at the King with big eyes filled with curiosity. He glanced back at their bodyguard, then turned to his father again. A smile lit up his face, and a split second later he was pulling at Roger's moustache like it was his worst enemy, laughing at the wince clearly showing in the older man's face.

“We should head back soon,” the swordsman whispered with his eyes on the sky.

“There's nothing to worry about, Ray,” the King chuckled as he ruffled his son's hair, making the boy giggle and let go of the facial hair to grasp the big calloused hand that promised warmth, love and protection. “We'll be back before the night falls.”

“It's not about the dark, Sir. I mean, if, or should I say, _when_ , your wife notices your absence, I fear the castle will be seeing a funeral, Roger. And it wouldn't be the Queens'.” This made the King burst out laughing, knowing full well what had been said wouldn't be far from reality.

However hilarious this statement was, the black-haired man could still feel his best friend's serious eyes on his back. The next thing he said was heavy with insecurity and fear, something Roger never liked to hear from Rayleigh.

“You are fully aware that setting foot out of the castle's walls holds great risk. For you, and now for the heir. There are still some of the lesser nobility who are not content with your conclusions, your Majesty. Some of them will stop at nothing to have the last word. You're currently offering your neck to your enemies, with only your glare to protect yourself. Have you thought of the danger you're putting young Luffy in?”

He was met only with the sound of the horses walking through crackling leaves. The prince was looking back and forth between the King and his bodyguard, not understanding a word of what was shared. He finally shrugged it off and proceeded with petting Silver Wind's neck.

“I highly recommend we head back to the castle, Sir.” He sighed, ripping his mask off and finally saying what was on his mind. “I fear for your safety, my friend, and for the kid's. I can't believe you're willing to put his life in danger. You're being reckless again.” Rayleigh's facial expression was as cold as his eye colour, andeven though the King couldn't see him, he knew his concern had gotten through, within the scolding.

“I'm not being reckless, Ray,” Roger finally replied. His gaze lingered on his son, and his next words were only a whisper that the wind pushed to the guard's ears. “I did bring you with me. It's the safest we could ever be.” Rayleigh could have sworn he saw the King's lips quirk in a loving smile, and he felt his own do the same in response.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! This is the last chapter for the moment, but don't worry, there are more to come! I've already written up to chapter 11, and I continue to work on it. I will continue to post only in late-June, so don't expect anything until then! Thanks for your understanding!

**Author's Note:**

> Basically, this is my third fanfiction. If you want to read the others I've written, you can visit my account on FFN. My pen-name is the exact same.


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